Rewritten
by Paradox Jast
Summary: The Fourth Great Shinobi War is all but lost. A tip from the Tsuchikage causes a team to travel to Uzushiogakure to find out more. Not knowing what to expect, they come across a seal, but it's one that requires a bijuu to power it. Naruto gets an opportunity to go back and re-write the past in hopes of giving everyone a different future. -COMPLETE-
1. Prologue

Rewritten - Prologue

Uzumaki Naruto looked up as the door to the workroom was opened and a tall, dark-skinned man stepped through the threshold. He looked rather weary and had several noticeable scrapes that the blond didn't recall seeing when they last spoke earlier. Closing the door behind him, followed by a quick hand-sign, the door flashed a dull gray for a moment before returning to its original color.

**"**I take it from your appearance, we've been located again?" Naruto queried.

**"**We both knew it was only a matter of time. We're holding our own for now, as usual. It won't last for long though... it never does." The other man was moving quickly towards him, his eyes now glued to the floor near where the blond was working. "Are you sure that you know what you have to do?"

Naruto sighed for what felt like the hundredth time in the short span he had been setting up and replicating their... re-discovered technique. "Yes, Darui, I know what I have to do. I wish we didn't have to resort to something like this... but I'm a shinobi. I'll get it done."

His dark-skinned compatriot offered a solemn nod before moving a few steps away from the platform on which Naruto was prepping the seal. If all went according to plan, they could stop the horrors of their current world and make a damn good attempt at righting various wrongs that had happened, especially events in recent memory. The only problem was that even with the power of the last of the 'free' bijuu behind them, they would only be able to send one person.

Darui shifted slightly as he stared at Naruto, "I can try to go get the others out there and drag them in here if you'd like... to say goodbye?"

The blond scowled for a moment before closing his eyes and letting his head hang. "It's not a good idea. I'd rather remember everyone as they were when I talked with them last. There aren't many of us left and I'm sure they would all understand." Naruto's expression became more solemn as he put the finishing touches on the seal. "Besides, if this is successful, none of you will exist as you are anymore."

Darui grunted at that – they had been over this many times before. This seal was a secret project of theirs which had taken them nearly a full year to complete. During that time their forces had gone from being a majority of shinobi from all the combined nations, to a brave few who refused to give up. Scouring the ruins of Uzushiogakure had only yielded this one useful-looking technique that was buried in a labyrinth beneath tons of rubble, and would need more chakra than they had available, even considering all the shinobi still with them. As a result, using their limited fuuinjutsu knowledge, they had to adjust it to be able to use the chakra of a bijuu. Fuuinjutsu was truly a lost art, Naruto believed, since he was widely considered to be the most skilled practitioner among all the shinobi still fighting. He had only briefly studied it under Jiraiya, and to a lesser extent, Kakashi for maybe a total of a year.

Unfortunately they were coming down to the wire, and everyone in their camp knew they likely wouldn't last another year before attrition wore them down to nothing. Hence the seal they had been working on – it was to be a last ditch attempt at completely altering the timeline. Of course they had no idea if it would work or not, but if they were all going to be captured or killed anyway it didn't really matter.

**"**Let's do this, Kurama," Naruto mumbled to the air.**  
****  
**Darui looked up at his blond friend again as the teenager muttered under his breath, realizing that it was finally time. Before Naruto did anything else, however, he held out a fist towards his companion. Naruto stared at the clenched hand for a moment before grinning, bumping his own fist against the outstretched one.

**"**I didn't really want to say anything, but if you get a chance, try to help out those of us who stuck with you until the bitter end, eh?"

**"**You have to ask?" Naruto grinned at his friend, and Darui suddenly looked a bit sheepish.

**"**Sorry, it's just-"

**"**It's fine, it's fine." Naruto waved off the apology, though not just because Darui used the word habitually. "Of course I'll try – though it will suck because none of you will remember me, and I'll be an old man by the time I could help anyone individually."

**"**You're an Uzumaki. Don't they have really long lifespans or something like that?"

**"**Yeah, but that doesn't mean I won't look old. You will be young, I doubt you'll want to hang around with an old geezer."

**"**You worry too much, Naruto. I'm just joking." Darui chuckled as he lowered his fist. "Give 'em hell, yeah?"

Naruto didn't say anything further, but kept a small smile on his face as he watched his friend walk back to the door, deactivate the seal, and leave the room without turning to look back. Taking a deep breath as the door flashed a light gray once again, Naruto began to focus his chakra into his feet, and then out below him into the seal he was standing on.

**"**Ready when you are, Kurama."

**"**_Very well. Hang on, I have a feeling this is going to hurt."_

**"**If it does, then it does. I'm used to pain."

Ignoring Kurama's snort in the back of his mind, he began to concentrate. Focusing on purifying the Kyuubi's chakra, his entire body to light up with an ethereal golden glow with the sage seals showing clearly. The power output would be massive, as he would need to use his own chakra as well as all of the bijuu's to power the seal they had.

Shortly after calling upon Kurama's chakra, he felt the telltale signs of their bond start to show – flashes of blue and red chakra flashed in the air, creating a golden glow rather than what many might have expected to be a purple one. He suddenly felt exhausted as there was a bright light that began glowing at his feet. It kept getting brighter until it fully encompassed the room he was in, even closing his eyes did not block the light. Suddenly it faded to black, then he knew no more.

* * *

**Updated Jan 15 2013**

paradoxjast . blogspot . com


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_"**You do realize that when we go back, my consciousness will no longer exist within you."**_

_Naruto's head snapped to look at his lifetime companion. For most of his life they had barely been on speaking terms. With the events surrounding the beginning of the 4th Shinobi World War and his temporary capture, all of that changed. Naruto's will was much stronger than Madara could have possibly fathomed and thus managed to keep the last of the 'free' bijuu sealed away inside of himself. While they had become 'friends' before that, Naruto's actions that day sealed the deal beyond any doubt._

_**"Don't give me that look. I can only exist at one place in time. Therefore my consciousness will go to where it exists already, depending on where in time we end up."**_

_"But what about your chakra?"_

_Kurama chuckled, but it did not sound nearly as menacing as it used to. That may have been due to the fact that he had shrunk itself to be Naruto's size. Not to mention the fact that he had no reason to try to intimidate Naruto anymore._

_**"So now you wish to use my chakra?"**_

_Naruto shrugged. "Well, it has proven rather convenient on more than one occasion."_

_There was light noise that came from the fox next to him, either a snort or exasperated sigh._

_**"I have no answer for you. I do not know what will happen, other than I will probably awaken inside one of my previous hosts, depending on when we arrive."**_

_"But you will remember?"_

_There was a moment of silence before Kurama's voice rumbled, **"Yes. I believe I will remember."**_

* * *

Naruto groaned as he awoke from what felt like a jarring impact. His body felt completely drained and sore, but it wasn't nearly as bad as when Madara had tried to yank the Kyuubi out of him. He ached nearly all over, but it was especially bad along his back.

Opening his eyes slowly, he blinked several times as he looked up at the bright blue sky. The moment he went to rub them, however, he realized that he could not move his arm. Panic started to set in as he tried and tried - alas, to no avail.

"Hokage-sama! He's awake!"

The voice he heard was vaguely familiar, a voice he recalled hearing once upon a time... but at the same time he could not place his finger on it. The blond was groggy for a few quick seconds as he racked his brains, trying to figure out what was going on. One of last things he could remember...

It all came back at once, rushing into his mind and leaving him short of breath. The war, the destruction of Konoha for a second time, Kurama... the seal. Time travel.

"You can relax, young man. I see you have a Leaf hitai-ate, though I do not recognize you as one of my own. We have you bound at the moment until you can explain yourself - you've made quite the ruckus. It's not every day I find a shinobi lying in a crater not far outside the village walls, after all."

Upon hearing a very familiar voice that he had not heard in so long – without the scratch of old age either – Naruto couldn't stop the pinpricks of tears that began to form in the corners of his eyes. He let out a barking laugh, "Haha... that you, old man?"

He could hear a few murmurs and quiet snickers around him, until the familiar voice of the Sandaime Hokage could be heard clearly once more. "I don't believe I'm quite that old yet, but if you recognize my voice without seeing me, I probably am who you think I am."

Naruto's lips quirked into a small smile. "Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage."

"You would be correct. The problem does remain, however, that I do not know who you are."

Naruto opened his eyes, letting the gathered teardrops run down the side of his face towards his ears. He was on his back, and was now staring straight up at a cloudless blue sky. He wanted to blurt out who he was and what he was doing so badly, but he had already discussed the problems of doing that with both Kurama and Darui.

Thinking about the Kyuubi caused him to take a second to check if somehow Kurama was still sealed inside him. It barely took a moment for him to realize that the consciousness of the bijuu was no longer with him, exactly as it had told him - even if a decent amount of its chakra remained. While this discovery made his spirits sag a little, he still had a mission to accomplish. Somehow.

"I have things I need to tell you," Naruto began, "but only you alone can hear them."

"I'm afraid that is not possible."

Naruto sighed internally, they had figured that would be a likely scenario. Unfortunately all of their scenarios had not had Naruto captured the moment he arrived. Breaking out of his bonds would have been possible eventually, but he was too tired to even bother at the moment. Not to mention it would completely dispel any degree of established trust, existent or otherwise.

Running through a mental checklist, Naruto began thinking of various offers, hoping that the legendary 'Professor' would agree to at least one of them, and not simply dump him into Torture and Interrogation. The blond had begun looking around, moving his head left and right. There were only a handful of ANBU around him, but not too close. The Sandaime was behind him, above where his head was resting, so he'd have to move his head about in an awkward manner in order to see the man.

Other than that he idly noted that he was in what appeared to be a crater in the middle of the forest. Whatever happened upon his arrival must have put Konoha into a state of alert.

"Are Jiraiya, Orochimaru, or Tsunade around?"

There was a moment of silence before the Hokage told him that they were out on village business.

"What about Hatake Sakumo?"

Even more silence followed, until Sarutobi answered him carefully, his voice beginning to show signs of aggression. "I'm not sure what your aim is, young man, but I'm not going to tell you about any of the shinobi in my care."

Nodding to himself, Naruto figured that would be the case. He was trying to determine exactly how far back he had come, but that could probably wait until after he had gained trust... if that was even possible at this point.

"Gather one or two other people you trust the most, and a Yamanaka that you trust as well. If you want to have others around just in case, that is fine – but I can only speak of what I know to those who you trust implicitly. You can keep me bound the entire time, if you wish."

There were many moments of silence, but Naruto knew the Hokage was communicating with his ANBU as he saw many of them make hand signs that he had become very familiar with. They were going to move him into a structure nearby that was outside the walls of Konoha.

"We'll be moving you someplace nearby, and I will gather those I trust most, like you say. I assume your desire for a Yamanaka is so that they can tell me if you are being truthful?"

"Yes. If Inoichi is available, he's the one I would trust the most. But I understand if that is not possible."

The Hokage hummed for a moment, then walked around to Naruto's side so the blond could see him for the first time. He definitely looked much younger than when Naruto saw him last, before his death.

"You should sleep for now, young man."

Before he could understand what was happening, the Hokage had made a hand sign. Naruto's eyes focused on what seemed to be a couple falling feathers before quickly dozing off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Naruto wasn't sure how much time had passed before he had fully regained consciousness, considering it looked as if they were in some earthen bunker. The only lights in the room came from torches on the walls, and while they were bright, he didn't have the faintest idea if the sun was still up in the sky. He was just in one big room with a single door.

Glancing around, he noted that Sarutobi was in his full Hokage battle gear, and was standing with his arms crossed as he chatted with a much younger looking Shimura Danzo, who was in traditional Jonin attire.

In a nearby corner was a younger man, who Naruto was barely able to recognize as a young, probably mid-teens aged Yamanaka Inoichi. The young man was currently writing in a notepad, otherwise oblivious to other goings on in the otherwise empty room.

Looking at his own situation, he became aware that his arms and legs were bound in iron to a large metal chair and that the bindings were lined with suppression seals, likely to keep his chakra down. They did - as he couldn't summon much - but they likely could not contain the regenerating chakra of the Kyuubi that he could still feel within himself, or that of nature which gave power to his senjutsu.

Trying to make himself a little more comfortable, he leaned forward and stretched a bit, which seemed to immediately gain Danzo's attention.

"Hiruzen. He's awake."

That was enough for the Hokage to quickly look at him, as well as for Inoichi to stop what he was doing and stare at him too, albeit somewhat nervously.

"I'm afraid you've awakened faster than I expected. The last person I called on has not arrived yet."

Naruto tried to shrug, but with his arms securely fastened it probably didn't look like much more than a twitch. "It's fine. I've got nothing but time anyway."

That caused Hiruzen to chuckle, if nothing else. "Indeed. Do you have a name I could call you?"

"You can call me Naruto for now. I'll tell you my clan name once I know you trust me a little bit."

"Very well, Naruto. That sounds fair."

There was barely a moment of silence before the heavy door to the room opened, and another older looking male walked through the door. At first, Naruto held the brief spark of hope that perhaps Kakashi had actually survived and made it into the past as well, but that idea was immediately quelled when he realized that the man actually seemed to be taller than he remembered Kakashi being, and his hair didn't appear to defy gravity like his sensei's did.

The man nodded at both Danzo and Hiruzen, then his gaze wandered over towards where Naruto was bound. There was no spark of recognition in the man's eyes, not that Naruto was expecting one.

"Very well, Naruto. Since we are all here now, perhaps you can appease a bit of my curiosity and tell me if you know who who everyone in this room is."

Naruto nodded slowly, then moved his gaze from one person to the next, saying all of their names. The three that had never met him previously all looked at him with various degrees of surprise, from Inoichi's utter confusion, Sakumo's stony face of indifference, to Danzo's very slight eyebrow twitch.

"So now that we've established that you know who all of us are even without us saying a word about our identities, perhaps you can now answer us as to why you appeared outside of Konoha's walls in the middle of a large crater. You wear the insignia of the Uzumaki and have a Leaf hitai-ate, but as I mentioned previously, I have never seen you before in my life."

Naruto sighed and let his head droop, then chuckled. "You probably won't believe me, which is why I asked you to bring a Yamanaka. But I'm from the future."

There was an eerie silence that fell over the assembled group, until Danzo leaned towards Sarutobi and whispered a few words that Naruto couldn't quite catch. The Hokage nodded, then asked another question.

"Exactly... how far into the future, Naruto?"

"It depends on when it is now. I was born a little over a year after the end of the Third Shinobi War. I'm nineteen now, so it's been at least that long since the end of that war."

Sarutobi looked at Danzo, then at Sakumo, and waited for both of them to nod at him in turn before facing Naruto once again. "Sand and Rock have had a few skirmishes recently, but there hasn't been any declarations as of yet. The second war ended a scant few years ago. It seems we are right to prepare for another one."

The blond nodded slowly. "Sand won't be much of an issue early on and later allies with us, but Konoha didn't get involved until a lot of the battles between Sand and Rock happen in Rain. Konoha will have to declare to protect our minor nation allies of Waterfall and Grass, and while Rock uses a small amount of their forces to keep Sand occupied, they start to focus on us. We also have a few skirmishes with Kumo, but nothing like during the Second Great War."

Danzo's rough voice – not nearly as rough as Naruto remembered from the few times he heard it, but it was still somewhat gravelly – posed the next question. "If you were not alive during that time, how do you know the specific details about what happened?"

Naruto gave the war hawk a sharp glance. "History is written by the victor, isn't it?"

That got a chuckle out of the three grown men in the room, all of them offering nods of varying degrees. Danzo even smiled a bit, which is something he didn't ever remember seeing before, not that he had many memories of the man.

"So we win, then?"

Naruto looked at Sakumo, who was currently giving him a kinder stare than he expected from anyone so far in this time period. "Yes, we win. Though I think I should keep as much secret about that as I can until the information is needed. This way if as little as possible changes, I'll know what's coming and we can prepare."

Sarutobi didn't look too enthused about Naruto withholding any information, but both Danzo and Sakumo seemed to think that was the best course of action, if their respective smirk and smile were any indication.

Instead of speaking further, Sarutobi motioned for Inoichi to come forward. The younger man did so – Naruto wasn't too sure of Inoichi's current age, but he looked to be in his mid to late teens.

"Naruto, I can only begin to guess that you know of Inochi in the future. As my first amount of trust that I will extend to you, I have called him here. Since you asked for him, that means you know what his capabilities are, correct?"

The blond nodded, then focused on the mind walker. "I'll try to concentrate on my most recent memories, especially ones where I remember talking to you in the future. It should make it easier, right?"

Inoichi murmured an affirmative, then grabbed a nearby chair and sat in front of the time traveling shinobi. Making familiar hand signs, he murmured the name of his technique and held his forehead.

After having someone to share his mindscape with for so long, Naruto knew exactly what it felt like to have someone rooting around in his head. He did his best to line up his most recent memories about his time travels in his mind, then present them in some manner that Inoichi would be able to see and understand clearly.

It didn't take nearly as long as he thought it might, as Inoichi appeared to be very skilled even now. What barely felt like two or three minutes later, Inoichi suddenly inhaled sharply and gave Naruto a rather solemn look, then immediately turned to face his Hokage. "He's telling the truth, Hokage-sama. I saw quite a few of his memories, and they all match up. I did see what looked to be yourself in the future, as well as... myself."

"Could they perhaps be carefully constructed memories?"

Inoichi shook his head. "They are in the part of his mind where the rest of his memories are, and not things like daydreams. Anything he speaks of did happen."

"I see." The Hokage rubbed at his chin for a moment. "Well, Naruto, it would seem that you are who you say you are... though I am unsure if that is good or bad. What could have possibly possessed you to travel back in time?"

Naruto frowned, looking at the old Hokage that he remembered, other than the fact that now the man didn't look nearly quite as old as he used to. "We lost the Fourth Great War."

"What? How?" This time it was Danzo who spoke before any of the others. Sarutobi and Inoichi both looked stricken, while Sakumo seemed more melancholy.

"We lost because of a lot of internal strife and issues after the near death of the Godaime Hokage. We didn't have the necessary leadership during the beginning of the war effort, and most of our initial efforts were stalled. Madara managed to control all except one of the bijuu, and with no Senju to oppose him, the United Shinobi Army was gradually worn down and whittled away through attrition."

All of the men in front of him paled as he began to talk, and there were gasps at the mention of Madara. He knew if nothing else, that would get their attention. Stopping Madara was his number one objective, after all.

"I came back in time to stop Madara. He's a power hungry madman that believes he alone has the right to rule the world because of his eyes. His final plan was to put everyone in the Elemental Nations in a genjutsu so that he would control our lives so that there will be peace, even if it is a fake one. All of the Nations banded together against him because none of us wanted to live our lives as puppets."

"Do you have a plan for stopping him?"

Everyone turned to look at Sakumo, and Naruto noted that it was the first words the man had spoken the entire time. "Unfortunately, that's what I came to the past to figure out. I need to get stronger, somehow... in order to stop him. We figured that if I could also somehow help make Konoha and our allies stronger in the past, it would be more able to stand up against him in the future."

Danzo and Sakumo both nodded slowly, though Sarutobi seemed to accept everything Naruto was saying with a grim smile.

Naruto continued, "There are some things that I can tell all of you, however there are probably other things that I should only pass by the old man first before we decide on what to do."

"Agreed." Sarutobi accepted that, appearing relieved, and ignoring Naruto's latest 'old man' comment. Sakumo and Inoichi both nodded, the latter probably believing he wouldn't have any say on what was to come anyway. Danzo, on the other hand, didn't look terribly happy but still seemed accepting, much to Naruto's curiosity. He didn't have much interaction with the man before, but he'd heard plenty from Sai after the temporary Hokage's death.

The Hokage made a gesture, and much to Naruto's surprise, Inoichi moved forward and began to release the bindings that held him attached to the chair. As he was doing that, Sakumo talked for the second time.

"So, Naruto... what was your ranking in the Konoha of the future?"

Naruto shrugged and grinned, "Officially? I don't think I ever made it above genin, at least not on paper."

"That's it? Why was a mere genin trusted with such an important job?" Danzo's exclamation seemed to surprise Hiruzen, who quickly shot his friend a strange glance.

"Because I was the last leader of the United Shinobi Army."

Danzo continued speaking, undaunted, "While we can have Inoichi verify that you are, that merely deflects my question. If you were in fact a genin, why was someone of your rank placed in charge?"

The blond chuckled as he stood up for the first time, rubbing his wrists and forearms. He glanced at Inoichi quickly before speaking towards the others present. "I know I trust Inoichi, but do you want him to hear what I have to say?"

"It's fine."

"Very well." Naruto took a deep breath, then stared straight into the eyes of Sarutobi. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. The third Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Youko, the first full master of Toad senjutsu, the unofficial Rokudaime Hokage of Konoha, and the third Supreme Commander of the United Shinobi Army of the Elemental Nations."

* * *

**A/N:** My pen name on another fanfic site called YourFanFiction is still Paradox Jast. On DeviantArt, it's infinityparadox.

Some things of note:

- For those of you familiar with my works, this is another fic that starts with shorter chapters and they get longer as the story continues.

- Thank you to all my betas from my village in Billy vs Snakeman, and Denim88.

- Progress is being made on Fire Shadow, and I've got 2 chapters finished of a new Harry Potter fic.


	3. Chapter 2

Edit: July 3rd - I think all the formatting issues are FINALLY fixed.

* * *

Chapter 2

"_What do you mean you can't locate him? Aren't you guys our best sensors?"_

_Several men and women cringed under Naruto's stern gaze. Jonin General Kakashi had taken on a risky operation to eliminate one of the bijuu statues, in hopes of freeing the bijuu and reducing the Tobi's power. Unfortunately Naruto was beginning to believe the whole thing was a trap, as only a few members of the expedition had made it back, stating Kakashi had remained behind so that they could get away._

_Naruto had since sent out a few sensors, but none of them could find a trace of Kakashi's chakra._

"_Dammit!" Naruto cursed as his fists banged against the top of a nearby table. He noticed a few of the shinobi flinch out of the corner of his eyes, so he sighed and rubbed a hand back through his hair. "I'm sorry guys, it's not your fault. This is just... very frustrating. Dismissed."_

_They all bowed and quickly moved away from him, lest they have to face his indirect wrath again. On occasion Naruto found himself wondering if his sanity was starting to slip, considering he was now one of two remaining generals of their army that was no more than a pale shadow of its former self. They were losing this fight, it was easy to see._

_He knew it was__ probably time to consult with Darui about that seal they found again, especially since Kakashi was gone. It was now or never._

* * *

"Here."

Naruto caught the ANBU mask that was tossed to him, and looked at it curiously. "What is this for?"

The current Hokage chuckled briefly as he moved to sit behind the chair in his office. "Well, I was thinking we can't just have you appearing out of nowhere. So I conferred with both Danzo and Sakumo for a while, and we came to the conclusion that it would be best for you to be at least recognized as an ANBU. This way any history we make up for you would seem plausible, and we can claim you have been under my service the entire time.

"In case anyone asks where you have been, state that the mission is classified, of course. If anyone with clearance asks, just say that you have been doing research into this Tobi character who claims to be a second coming of Uchiha Madara, as you explained to us yesterday. If they have any further questions, point them to me."

Naruto shrugged. "Sounds good. Also, since I'm an orphan, so should we just continue with that? I was thinking about telling my parents who I am, but as I think about it more... I don't think it would be a good idea."

Sarutobi nodded slowly. "If you're already familiar with being an orphan than it makes no sense to change. I'm assuming since you brought it up you would be able to tell them now?"

"Yes. I know who they are, but I don't know if they are really close to each other yet or not. My father is the... err, I mean _will_be the Yondaime Hokage - Namikaze Minato."

Hiruzen's eyes went wide before his whole face adopted a knowing look. "Ah, I see. I thought you resembled Minato a bit, but I was not certain. It could prove problematic when we see the two of you next to each other, I'm afraid."

Naruto absentmindedly rubbed at the back of his neck. "Yeah, I didn't think about that. Any ideas?"

"We could just chalk it up to coincidence. Though if you continue to use the Uzumaki name, and claim you are an orphan, you could very well make a believable reference to the fact that you and Minato are distantly related. I would suggest talking to him about it first, though. How old are you now?"

"I'll be turning twenty next month."

"That's even better." Sarutobi nodded as he reached for his pipe. "He is only seventeen, therefore even if you did somehow have the same parents, as he is an orphan also – no one would be able to confirm one way or another."

"I understand."

The Hokage nodded again, tapping the end of his pipe against his desk, and then using a small Katon jutsu to cause the contents at the end to smolder. After taking a few puffs, he looked at Naruto again. "So, your mother is Kushina?"

Naruto blinked for a few seconds, surprised. "How did you know?"

"You were wondering before, but I can confirm that she and Minato are nearly inseparable whenever they are out in the village. It has been like that ever since he saved her from being abducted by Kumogakure, years ago. Besides that, while your hair and eyes resemble your father, I see Kushina's face when I look at you. That will help confirm to her at least that you are an Uzumaki. Assuming she puts you under any scrutiny, of course."

Nodding, the blond finally took a moment to examine the mask in his hands. "A fox?"

"You did say you were the Kyuubi's third host, correct? I thought it would be fitting."

Chuckling, Naruto nodded, and let his hands fall to his sides. "Is there anything else you need from me or want to know?"

"Two things. Is the Kyuubi still in you now, and have you been in ANBU before?"

Naruto nodded slowly, and unzipped his dull orange and black jacket. Pulling one of his arms out from the sleeve, he lifted up the short sleeve of his mesh shirt underneath, exposing the ANBU tattoo. "As for the Kyuubi, I still have his chakra, though his consciousness is not in me anymore. It seems like the chakra is regenerating too, so that means I can still use my abilities – but I'd rather avoid using any unless it's an emergency. The Kyuubi itself is probably back inside my mom, though it agreed not to say anything to her until I initiate contact." He briefly considered using Kyuubi's name in front of the Hokage, but decided against it in the end. He'd let Kurama share his name with whomever he wanted to.

Hiruzen eyed him warily for a moment, probably not used to anyone being on speaking terms with a bijuu, least of all the Kyuubi. "I... see. In any case, we'll leave you solo for now, and I'll try to start fitting you into operations with other chunin and jonin."

"But I'm still a genin."

Hiruzen chuckled. "Not anymore you aren't. I'm assuming it was just a circumstance of the time when you lived that you kept that rank. But for someone who has the experience of being a Hokage as well as a general and leader of the united shinobi of the Elemental Nations, if you expect me to overlook that and keep you doing D and C Rank missions? Not happening."

Naruto simply chuckled, looking sheepish. "It would be like a vacation for a little while."

"I know, but I'm sorry. Even though you just came out of one war, we're going to be entering another one soon. You know this as well as I do."

"I understand. Do you have any idea when we will enter?"

"Our forces are on standby in Rain, in case Rock or Sand try anything. They've been keeping most of their fights in Bird Country so far, so we haven't had to intervene. Other, smaller forces are garrisoned in River and Grass, just in case either of them tries anything. We'll deal with moving forces to Waterfall when the time comes, if necessary."

"Sand doesn't last long in the war, if I remember correctly. Rock is too strong for them. Speaking of... has my father used Hiraishin yet?"

"I can't say anything by that name has been brought to my attention. What is it?"

"I guess not then," Naruto mumbled under his breath. "It was – or will be the technique that enables him to end and win the war, and one reason you nominate him as Yondaime Hokage."

"I see." Sarutobi leaned back in his chair and took a few puffs on his pipe. "I always thought he was talented, and in fact I have only been recently been considering people to take over when I'm done."

"It's probably the war and... well, one other thing that affects your opinion about the job. Has Orochimaru already been chased out of the village?"

Sarutobi's eyes went wide for a moment, until he remembered who it was he was talking to. "No. What are you going on about now?"

"He causes a lot of problems later. Especially for you." Naruto didn't have the heart to say that Orochimaru would eventually kill him, unless specifically asked for details. That would be one preventable death if he had any say in the matter.

There were a few moments of silence before Sarutobi let out a sigh, then set down his pipe and leaned forward once again, grabbing a scroll and some ink. "Some of his recent comments and activities have been... disturbing me, but we can discuss my student later since I know right now he is currently standing with Konoha. For now, your standard ANBU outfit will be given to you at their main office. You know where that is?"

Naruto nodded.

"Good. I don't care what you wear, but for a while you'll need to be seen in something close to jonin gear while keeping your tattoo visible. People may not recognize you, but at least they won't question you. Otherwise they will have to answer to me. Now we just need to work on your history, and you need to memorize it before you leave this office."

Sarutobi hummed briefly as the blond moved towards one of the nearby chairs. "I guess I can start our meeting by saying welcome home, Jonin Commander Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto blinked in pleasant surprise for a moment before smiling at the Hokage. "It's good to be here, old man."

* * *

Naruto chewed on his bottom lip as he wandered through the streets of Konoha. It had been a long time since he had been able to walk through the village like this, especially since it had first been destroyed back when he was sixteen. They had done a very good job rebuilding it, but it just hadn't been the same. Especially once it was destroyed the second time.

Another thing that had slightly unnerved him at first was seeing so many Uchiha. He hadn't gotten around to informing Sarutobi about the massacre yet, but it would still be years before that would happen. On the other hand, that made it of utmost importance that he try to convince the Hokage to get the Uchiha to merge with the village more than they currently were, otherwise they risked alienating themselves in the future.

Humming as he walked along, he got the occasional glance from villagers, who would give him a small nod of acknowledgment and maybe a smile before continuing on their business. It was another big difference – previously he was either completely ignored or treated like a celebrity. This right now was a nice happy medium.

He rubbed at an itch on his arm, not used to having them exposed like they currently were. The Hokage had gotten him a small apartment to use and a few sets of standard jonin clothing, along with a few sleeveless vests and the standard jonin jacket. The outfit was similar to that which most ANBU wore, but he currently didn't have his mask or arm-guards on since he wasn't on duty, but still needed to leave his right upper arm exposed so that the tattoo was visible.

It wasn't long before a particular scent caught the attention of his nose, and dragged him to the source. Upon approach, the stand looked familiar, however it wasn't called Ichiraku. It did look like a young Teuchi behind the counter, however, so perhaps he simply bought the stand or changed the name at a later date.

Not wasting any time, and making sure he still had his money pouch that the Hokage had given him, the blond entered the stand and quickly sat down. Barely a second later Teuchi was willing to take his order.**"**One miso ramen, please."

**"**Of course. Just a moment."

Naruto leaned his arms on the counter and smiled, closing his eyes as he simply basked in the atmosphere. He normally would have ordered more, but didn't want to spoil his visit. It had been so long since he had any ramen, and he wanted to enjoy this first bowl again.

Other than that, he simply wouldn't have enough money. Yet.

**"**Wow, fancy meeting you here. So Hokage-sama let you go?"

Naruto opened his eyes and turned in the direction where the voice had come from – only to come face to face with the one and only Namikaze Minato. What were the chances?

**"**Yeah. How did you like our little act? Was it convincing?" Naruto tossed the other young man a small smirk before looking back at Teuchi who was currently filling his bowl. He was amazed with his own ability to keep a mostly straight face upon seeing his dad. If he hadn't met his father previously in his mindscape, he probably would have been acting like a fanboy right at the moment. Luckily he had grown up in leaps and bounds during the war, and knew how to keep a straight face when he really needed to. It was perhaps a bit easier to deal with than it would have been otherwise considering he was currently older than his future father.

**"**Act?" Minato's head tilted to the side slightly. "You mean that whole thing was staged?"

Naruto nodded, turned his head to wink at Minato, then faced forward again as he watched Teuchi come over with his bowl of miso ramen. Smiling at the chef, the blond thanked him, then immediately dug in, completely ignoring Minato in favor of his food.

**"**Hey! Come on, don't just leave me hanging! What did you mean about it being an act?"

Naruto turned to face Minato again, some noodles hanging out of his mouth. When the corner of Minato's lips began to twitch upwards into a smile at the sight of someone acting like an idiot, Naruto smirked as well, and immediately slurped them up.

**"**What I meant is exactly what I said." Naruto pointed his chopsticks at Minato as he continued talking. "I was testing something for Hokage-sama and it backfired. I was knocked unconscious. He wasn't sure if it was me or an actual attack though, so he had to act as if it was an attack and be cautious. When he found out it was me though, I just played along."

Naruto finished his comments with a shrug, and turned back to his food again. Minato appeared to buy what he said, for the most part, and turned back to his own bowl.

**"**So I guess you can't say what it was you were testing?"

Naruto chuckled a little, stirring his ramen. "Nope. Sorry. Not yet anyway. Hokage-sama said to direct any inquiries to him, so that's what I'm going to do."

Minato continued shooting random glances at Naruto as they both ate, as if he wanted to keep asking questions, but not coming up with anything worthwhile. At least... not until his eyes finally landed on the ANBU tattoo.

**"**Oh, so you're ANBU? I've done a few things with them, but haven't joined up. Are you out of the village a lot?"

Naruto nodded slowly, then finished off his bowl and set it down. "All the time. It's nice to be able to sit down and just enjoy myself in the village instead of constantly running errands for Hokage-sama."

**"**So you don't run missions with others, then? I don't think I've ever seen you before."

**"**Not usually. I typically get the stuff that doesn't need a full team to complete. With the way I was trained, I'm pretty much a one man army. I don't really need to be paired with anyone. It sucks because I don't meet a lot of people or have any friends, really... but I love my home so I'll do what's asked of me."

The short speech brought Minato up short for a moment, but it didn't take long for a small grin to form over his face. "One man army, huh? I wouldn't say no to making another friend, want to spar sometime?"

Naruto snorted, waving off the offer of another bowl from Teuchi at the same time. "Buttering me up so you can steal all my kick-ass moves? Friends sure, spar... no thanks."

**"**What? I would never do that!"

Naruto simply gave Minato a look out of his peripheral, only to see the other teenager actually giving him a hurt look. With a sigh, Naruto shook his head. He was wary about getting too close too fast. "If I manage to get some free time, I'll consider it. I usually don't have any free time at all."

Minato's demeanor instantly changed as his face morphed into a warm smile. "Excellent! If Hokage-sama has you doing special assignments, you must be good. Most people are afraid to spar with me now, because I always win."

Naruto knew what that felt like, all too well. "Well then, I hope you're prepared to lose."

**"**Hah! We'll see. Oh, by the way my na-"

**"**I knew I'd find you here!"

Naruto blinked as Minato suddenly disappeared, hidden by a large curtain of deep red hair. It didn't even take a second for him to register that this was probably his mother. As much as he would have loved to sit and chat with both of them, it would be much too soon to slip up by saying something odd and figured fleeing the scene would be the best bet. Thankfully he didn't have to watch his future mother make kissy-face with his father as Teuchi decided to be merciful and come over to hand him his bill. Not wasting any time, he paid up and thanked the chef, then stood up to leave.

**"**Hey! Wait... _wait_, hold on a sec Kushina, sorry!"

Naruto looked over his shoulder to see Minato blushing as he tried to look around Kushina. She was pouting slightly as she stared at him, murmuring something that Naruto really didn't care to hear. Seeing as how she wasn't going to leave him alone, Naruto started to leave again, only to stop once again as he heard Minato call out again.

**"**Hey, wait up! My name is Minato, if you're free tomorrow come find me at training ground six at around noon, okay?"

Not turning around, he nodded his head. "See you then. My name is Uzumaki Naruto, by the way. Nice to meet you."

As soon as he finished speaking, he leaped up to the roof of the stand, and then up and over again to the building next door. He heard his mother gasp after he said his name, and wanted to introduce himself to her, but not when she was hounding all over his future father like that. He'd probably get used to it eventually, but right now he was more worried about falling out of character. He'd have to brush up on his Uzushiogakure history some before talking to her.

His thoughts were distracted as he noticed his mother finally walk out from the stand and look around, but not find what she was looking for – him. Shaking her head slightly, Naruto noticed as she placed her hands on her hips for a moment and looked down, then turned around and walked back behind the hanging cloth of the stand.

Time to go study. She'd probably be hounding him after his spar with Minato tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"_I wish Ero-Sennin was here. He'd have this whole thing changed over in no time."_

"_Yes, he would. Unfortunately, he hasn't been around for a long time, so we'll have to make due with the limited knowledge of the three of us."_

_Naruto sighed as he ran a hand through his shaggy hair. Darui, Kakashi, and himself had been taking turns every day trying to reconfigure the seal they found in the ruins of Uzushiogakure, one which Naruto believed was for time travel, while the other two were skeptical at best. Kakashi was worried about even attempting it, and didn't want to waste time thinking about using it since it needed what they estimated to be the chakra of more than one hundred shinobi with decent chakra pools. And that was just to get it started. They had no idea how much it would need to actually do anything._

_Their only chance at actually making it work was for them to adjust it so that it could use the chakra of a bijuu, like they were doing. The only problem is that it was taking so long, and their forces were getting smaller every day. Naruto's fuuinjutsu training had progressed slowly, and he didn't even truly start until after the war had already started.__The saddest part was that of those not caught in the red moon genjutsu, he was the m__ost knowledgeable person they had._

"_Kakashi... do you think we can pull this off?"_

_The fatigued general rubbed at his stubble-covered chin and sighed; he had stopped bothering with the mask long ago. At least it felt like it had been forever. "I hope so, Naruto. I really hope so."_

* * *

**"**You heard what I said. He's another Uzumaki!"

"So you believe this man's words without question?"

Kushina pouted, looking at her friend as they walked side-by-side towards the training grounds. It was a little past noon, so if this other Uzumaki person was at all punctual, he should have been sparring with her boyfriend for a while now.

"Of course I question it. I just got caught up in the excitement of another Uzumaki being in the village. There used to be a lot of us, until the second war. Everyone who was in Konoha went home to defend it, only to be killed. I just had a feeling that some had managed to flee and survive somewhere."

Kushina's friend, Uchiha Mikoto, looked at her companion with obvious sympathy. "Are you still upset about not being allowed to go there?"

"Of course! If I had been there with the Kyuubi, Uzushiogakure would still be here today!"

"We've been over this. You were twelve, Kushina. They wouldn't risk you."

The redhead simply growled, but did not comment further. She knew they had made the right choice by keeping her in the village for the duration of the second war. It was likely that Kumo attacked them for that very reason... Granny Mito was on her deathbed and they had to pull the Kyuubi out of her. It would take years before Kushina was able to use even a fraction of the Kyuubi's power, and Kumo must have known that.

Uzushiogakure was attacked and wiped off the map in less than a week. There was no time for Konoha to get adequate forces there in time to help defend. Even if she didn't know exactly who her parents were, she saw the Uzumaki clan as her extended family. To know that they were all gone really hurt. But now there was someone in the village who claimed he was also an Uzumaki. The problem was that he had blond hair, when a large portion of the Uzumaki she remembered had red hair.

Of course, there were a few with different hair colors like blond and brown and black, and there was even one strange girl with dark green hair who she remembered seeing now and then, but they were definitely the minority and typically married in. It was the same thing with the Uchiha and the Hyuuga – or most large, established clans for that matter.

"Hello, Kushina? Are you listening?"

The redhead snapped to attention, offering Mikoto a sheepish look. "I'm sorry about that. I was just thinking about the past."

The raven-haired woman nodded slowly. "I understand. Just pay attention to where you're walking. You almost ran right into that tree a few paces back. I wasn't about to stop it from happening."

"Hmm, that would have been funny."

"For me, yes. It probably would have hurt you."

"I'd still laugh at myself for being an idiot."

Mikoto snorted and shook her head, a wan smile stretching across her face. "I can only imagine when you have kids, what kind of knuckleheads they are going to be."

As if on cue, there was a crashing noise that came from the trees above the two women. A moment later, two black and yellow blurs fell to the ground near them, and stopped when one of them began to yell out, "Whoa whoa whoa! Time out!"

The blond that Kushina faintly recognized as the man from the Ramen stand yesterday was crouched on the ground right in front of them, with Minato slightly crouched behind him and a triple-prong kunai in each hand in a reverse grip. Upon further inspection, both of them were breathing heavily, though the one with whisker marks on his cheeks seemed a lot worse for wear, if the messy state of his clothing was any indication.

"Why are we stopping?" Minato's back was to the two women, so he likely hadn't registered they were there yet.

Naruto chuckled. "We have innocent bystanders here now. I don't want these two lovely ladies to get caught in our crossfire."

Minato's eyes went wide, and then pale as he finally whirled around and registered that Kushina and Mikoto were standing there, looking at the two boys. "A-A-Ah – Kushina! I'm sorry, I didn't even... Mikoto-chan too? I was so focused on fighting, I haven't been able to spar like this in so long that I-"

He didn't get to finish as Kushina walked over and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "It's fine, Minato. I know how you get when you find something – or someone – that intrigues you."

Minato blushed very slightly and nodded, but chose not to say anything. It didn't take long for Kushina's focus to shift from her boyfriend to the new arrival. She quickly noted that he was the tallest one among them when he finally stood up. Not only that, but he had the same hair color and eyes as her boyfriend, only his face wasn't quite as chiseled. It was more rounded. Those marks on his cheeks too... they definitely stood out, but in a cute sort of way.

"So, are you really an Uzumaki?"

The new arrival in front of her merely shrugged his shoulders and gave her a small grin. "Well, Hokage-sama has pretty much raised me since as far back as I can remember, and he always said I was an Uzumaki. He said my mother was from Uzushiogakure and died serving Konoha, but he doesn't know anything about my father. He took me into his care when my mother died, and I've been serving him ever since."

"Did you know her name? Maybe I can find out who your dad was."

Naruto shook his head negatively. "I've never asked, and Hokage-sama has never offered it to me. I figured there was no point in wanting something that I'd never have or need."

"That's a pretty sad way to look at it." Kushina could tell from looking into his eyes that he didn't really mean what he said. She couldn't quite place her finger on it, but he seemed to be too... happy... compared to the solemn words he was saying. "You should ask Hokage-sama to tell you then. I bet I could find out more about her."

"Oh really? How would you do that?"

She didn't think he really looked smug as he said that, but from the twitch of his lips and the light in his eyes, it was almost as if he was goading her... as if he was privy to some joke that only he heard or knew about.

"I happen to be an Uzumaki as well. Most of the information from Uzushiogakure that could be recovered was brought here and placed under my care, since as far as I know I am – or was – the only Uzumaki still in Konoha."

Naruto seemed happy, but not in a way she was expecting. Instead of immediately agreeing to go ask the Hokage about his mother, he simply shrugged. "Well, I'm just glad to know that I'm not the only Uzumaki around anymore."

"Me too. How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?"

Naruto chuckled. "I'm nineteen. I'll be twenty next month."

"You're older than me!" Kushina offered Naruto a mischievous grin, "Since you're all the family I have left, that means I get to call you Aniki!"

Naruto's face went completely blank before he burst into laughter. He was laughing so hard that after a few seconds he bent over, clutching at his stomach. Looking up briefly to see the pout on Kushina's face, he started laughing even harder.

"Whaaaat?" Kushina began to whine. "I've always wanted a big brother! Why are you laughing?"

Naruto's laughs eventually began to subside, and he chose to lean against a nearby tree for support as he wiped at his eyes. "Ah... hahah... nothing, sorry. It's just – you were so serious one minute, and then the next you started calling me Aniki. I just wasn't expecting that. You seem to have accepted me rather quickly, too."

The redhead accepted this explanation, though she had since placed her hands on her hips and stared at him expectantly. "I'll go verify your story with Hokage-sama the next time I see him. Otherwise I don't care. This is just too exciting, so... can I?"

Chuckling briefly yet again, Naruto nodded a few times as he slowly pushed himself forward again, away from the tree. "Sure. I'd be honored if you called me that."

"Yay!" Kushina gave him a big smile, then promptly ran over and gave him a quick hug. It was a little awkward for both of them, and she had already pulled away before he could even consider returning the gesture. Giving him a small wink, she then turned around and started fussing over a very slightly roughed-up Minato.

Naruto just crossed his arms over his chest, smiling as he watched the interaction, completely unaware of the other person nearby until she cleared her throat and began speaking.

"So, you now have a new little sister of sorts. You seem pleased, though I can tell you from experience she will be more trouble than she is worth."

Naruto blinked as he turned his head to look at the speaker. His eyes settled on a very attractive young woman, probably around his age if he had to guess. She had long black hair that was currently held up in a ponytail, and very dark brown, nearly black eyes. As he looked at her, Naruto realized that she reminded him of someone, but he couldn't quite place it. She appeared to be amused at the interactions from before, and her voice held a teasing tone to it.

"Is there something on my face?"

Naruto blanched, waving his hand quickly in dismissal. "N-No! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare. You just... sort of reminded me of someone, and I was trying to figure out who."

"Huh. I thought it was just Kushina. Do you Uzumaki always tend to space out a lot?"

Naruto nervously scratched at the back of his head. "Not that I'm aware of. Sorry again."

"Whatever." The woman waved her hand dismissively, though there was still a small smile on her face. "As for looking familiar, my father is the head of the Uchiha clan." She made an obvious glance at his exposed upper arm and the tattoo on it, "So if you are in fact ANBU, you've likely seen him often. That's probably where the familiarity comes from."

Naruto nodded to her – he had recognized that she was an Uchiha by the fan symbol that was on her casual shirt, which just so happened to be in the middle of her chest. It was hard to pry his eyes away, as he had a healthy appreciation for the female figure. His godfather taught him the things he should not do, and number one was letting your eyes wander when talking to a woman when it wasn't appropriate. Unless she asked you to, of course.

From the brief glimpse he had been able to get before talking to her, even if she was an Uchiha, it was obvious she was very attractive. It really was too bad that he was trying to remain as detached as possible from society so he didn't mess up the timeline too badly. Still, there was nothing stopping him from being polite.

Trying to keep his eyes focused on her face, he offered the woman a grin. "Well, I should probably drag Minato back into our spar that I stopped. It was nice talking to you. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, by the way."

The black haired woman's smile turned into a smirk. "I know who you are, Kushina couldn't stop talking about you on the way here. I'm Uchiha Mikoto, heir of the Uchiha clan. Perhaps we will speak again. Bye for now."

As she offered a wave before turning and calling out for Kushina, Naruto hoped that she didn't see his face pale after he heard her name. While he didn't recall ever meeting her before, the name was one he easily recognized.

He had just been checking out Sasuke's mom! That was just plain wrong on so many levels.

Right?

* * *

Sarutobi sighed as he rubbed at his forehead. Reports had been coming in that skirmishes between Rock and Sand had been becoming even more numerous over the last week. So far Kumo had remained tight-lipped about the whole thing, apparently their old Sandaime Raikage was not eager to get involved with any wars so soon after Konoha decimated them in the last one.

Mist appeared to be caught up in the middle of a civil war that had broken out. They lost their Nidaime Mizukage near the end of the Second Great War, and there were two people claiming to be the Sandaime Mizukage if the reports were to be believed. The two claimants had caused a civil war of sorts to break out, each had the backing of a different group of people – those with bloodlines, and those without.

Sarutobi had put out an offer of asylum to any bloodline clans looking for refuge, but so far none had come. The offer hadn't been out for that long, however, and if one or both of the people claiming to be Mizukage were controlling information, it was unlikely he would see any clans arriving here.

With that in mind, the Sandaime turned to glance at the young man who was sitting in his office, looking bored out of his mind as he picked at some dirt under his fingernails.

**"**Naruto, what can you tell me about this apparent civil war in Mist that I've been hearing about?"

The blond perked up for a moment and let his hands fall to his lap. "So, the War of the Bloody Mist starts before the Third Great Shinobi War? I didn't realize that."

**"**Bloody Mist? Is that what it was called?"

**"**Yeah." The blond nodded, then looked out the window. "No one really knows much about it, but we do know it lasted through most of the Third Great War. After the Second Great War, the Mist has always been closed off from the other nations for some reason, and any information we got was usually delayed so there were no accurate records about what happened when over there. They finally came out of isolation when they got their Godaime Mizukage, right before the Fourth Great War, but they were also the first country to completely fall. We never did get much information about them as a result."

**"**Unfortunate." Hiruzen looked over a few sheets of information spread over his desk, various reports from around the nations, and let out a small sigh. "I was thinking about sending a team in to spread word in Water Country that we're offering asylum to any clans looking to escape the civil war. In fact, I already had a team in mind, led by Hatake Sakumo. What's your opinion on this?"

Naruto knew that the Hokage wasn't asking for an opinion, he was actually referring to Naruto's knowledge of the future, and if this particular decision would have any impact.

**"**In my time, we didn't have any different clans than there are now. But if I'm remembering correctly, I know why."

**"**Are you able to say why?"

Naruto frowned, thinking about it for a moment before speaking slowly, "I can't say for sure, since by the time I was made Hokage, Konoha was about to be destroyed again and I never had a chance to go through the old files. There was a mission that Hatake Sakumo fails, and it costs him his life."

**"**Sakumo... failed? While not in the realm of impossibility, I find that very hard to believe - he has an impeccable mission record."

It was Naruto's turn to sigh as he gazed at his hands. "Saying he failed may not be the best way to say it. His team was captured during the mission. He had a choice between completing his mission and abandoning his team, and he chose to save his team and abandon the mission instead."

Sarutobi's eyes went wide briefly before they narrowed. "I see. I believe he made the correct choice, however there are likely those who do not share my opinion."

**"**Correct. It was so bad that it led to his eventual suicide, leaving his son Kakashi all alone."

**"**Kakashi? I see." The Hokage lead back in his chair and pressed his fingertips together as he stared at the report on his desk. "So tell me, Rokudaime Hokage-sama... what would you do?"

Naruto settled back into his chair as he watched the Sandaime start to shuffle through some papers. This would be the third time Sarutobi Hiruzen had referred to Naruto as the Hokage. Whenever he had done it previously, he had followed the blond's instructions to the letter, and so far had gotten perfect results. Granted that both times it was about Orochimaru and his laboratory locations, but they had to find some common ground to start on. Hiruzen hadn't made a move against his wayward student yet, but was stockpiling evidence for the future, and likely hoping that he could sway the man to stop what he was doing.

Now it seemed the current active Hokage wanted him to give some input on what to do with his personnel, which was a first.

**"**Is Sakumo a Jonin Commander?"

**"**Not now, that would be split between you and Nara Kokoro."

**"**Any relation to Shikaku?"

Sarutobi nodded. "His mother, but she claims she wants to retire soon. The Second Great War burnt her out, apparently. I was thinking about who to replace her with."

**"**Let her step down if she wants, and give the position to Sakumo. That will keep him here in the village. I will take any missions that he normally would have gotten, so this way he will be around for his son later. I don't know how this will change Kakashi... but hopefully for the better. Sakumo is an ally that I'd like to have around when I need to face Tobi again, assuming nothing else happens to him. Towards the end of the Third War Shikaku can be promoted to what he was in my time."

Hiruzen nodded. "If this is a mission that Sakumo would have failed, what makes you think you aren't too valuable to perform it as well?"

Naruto simply sighed and rubbed at his forehead. "While I'm not invincible, I _am _very nearly immortal thanks to the Kyuubi's chakra in me, combined with Uzumaki longevity. I know how to purify the bijuu's chakra and make it even stronger. Not only that, but I'm a Sage. Not to sound terribly arrogant, but I doubt there is anyone one alive right now that can stop me. If I find Tobi, Uchiha Madara, or whatever name he decides to go by - I will not hesitate to chase him down and kill him."

The current Hokage scrutinized Naruto with a careful gaze. Noting how serious Naruto was, he slowly nodded. "Very well. But I'm still sending a team with you, just in case. One that can support you, even if you don't feel you need it."

**"**I understand."

**"**Good. Now, I have some ideas, tell me what you think of them from what you know..."

* * *

A/N: This essentially ends Arc 1 of the story. This arc was building up the intro, and the next few chapters (Arc 2) revolve around constructing the relationships along with plot - it will deviate almost completely from canon, obviously. Arc 3 will focus on the plot and conclusion. I haven't bothered to check total word count of the story, but I assume it's somewhere around 75-100k when all is posted.

See you next week.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"_N-Nar-uugh..."_

"_Shhh, Sakura-chan. Don't talk. I'm going to get someone to heal you."_

_Sakura exhaled, but Naruto knew she was struggling to breathe. They were ambushed even though they were so close to their destination. Someone had to have seen all of the explosions from their camp, he had been throwing around Rasengan after Rasengan as well as tossing explosive kunai all over, not showing any mercy to their ambushers after Sakura had been injured._

_Normally he would only aim to cripple, since their opponents were mere puppets under an everlasting genjutsu, but his rage made that an impossibility. While he was trying to make some space for them to fight, an enemy had come out of a shadow and struck Sakura in the back of her chest with a sword, running her through._

_He wasn't a medic, so he had no clue what kind of trouble she was in. All he could see was that it looked very, very bad. So bad that she couldn't concentrate to heal herself, though considering the mission they finished she was undoubtedly running on fumes anyway. He had offered his chakra for her to use, but it took even more focus to use someone else's... focus she just didn't have._

"_Baka." The word was whispered, but was done with force. Specks of blood appeared on her lips and chin as she struggled to adopt a fond expression as she looked at him. Unfortunately the struggle to stay alive kept it from looking like anything other than a grimace._

_Naruto offered his teammate a tight smile, trying to ignore the slightly gurgled, breathless whisper. "Yes, I am. Now hold on, I know someone had to have seen all of this from camp. We're not that far but I don't want to move you and risk making your injuries worse."_

_He noticed as her lips finally managed to twitch upwards in a very small grin. She was probably relieved that at least some of her lessons had gotten through. Of course, he was about to say lessons be damned and he'd call upon Kurama's chakra to literally fly back to their camp._

_A tug on his jacket caused him to look down, seeing her blood-covered hand grabbing the green vest._

"_Kiss... m-me."_

_Naruto's expression must have betrayed his shock, because before he could say anything she gave a firmer tug, pulling his face down towards hers. As he hovered over Sakura's face for a moment, he took in her features while trying to ignore the small trail of blood that went from the corner of her lips down along her neck, mingling with her pink hair._

_She kept her eyes closed, so Naruto moved in, gently pressing his lips against hers. It was almost as if she came alive again for those few moments, kissing back hungrily and fisting both of her hands in his hair, keeping his face close to hers. Naruto tried to concentrate on exactly what it was he was doing – kissing his first crush for what was likely the first and last time – while ignoring the distinct taste of blood on her lips, and the occasional cough._

_When they finally broke apart, he gazed down at her and quickly noted that she had started shedding __tears._

"_Still... l-love you..."_

"_Sakura-chan, I love you too. I always have."_

_She smiled again, or at least tried to. It appeared to Naruto as if she wanted to say more, but the hand that she had moved around to rest against his cheek slowly lost its fight with gravity and fell to her chest, just as the other hand that was still in his hair slowly released and fell away, onto the soft dirt._

_As he watched her eyes slowly lose focus and smile fade, he began to revisit in his mind all the times they had spent together in the past, from the moment they were children up through this war. From all of her initial rejections of his affections, up until their final not-quite romantic encounter where he had rejected her because he knew deep down she wasn't being honest with him, or herself. The war started immediately after that, and while both of them may have wanted to do something if the war ended, neither of them had the time to even think about relationships._

_Naruto brushed some loose hairs away from her forehead, which he still thought was charming, and laid a brief kiss on it. He knew that she was gone, and was not about to bury her here, so he moved her arms to cross over her body, then lifted her up bridal style._

_As Naruto tried to clench his jaw and blink the growing tears out of his eyes, part of him wondered if he should have just moved her to the camp anyway. That line of thought was promptly dashed to the ground upon arrival at the camp – or its remains, anyway. No wonder there was no help, all that remained of his team was blackened bones and scorched earth._

_All of this was too much for him to bear. So for the first time since Tsunade's death a year ago, he knelt down with Sakura's dead body in his arms, and finally cried._

_Not surprisingly, Kurama remained silent the entire time._

* * *

Today was October tenth.

Under normal circumstances, today would have been his birthday. Not that anyone really paid attention to days of celebration during the war, but the date was still important, at least during his childhood. In his later years, everyone who wasn't caught under the harsh genjutsu of the red moon cherished every day of their freedom, so specific meaning behind various days of the year were lost in the rush of just trying to stay _free_.

Thankfully, there was no red moon yet. That was why he had come back in time in the first place. The Hokage had him sitting in on meeting after meeting, trying to figure out what they could change without it altering everything Naruto knew of the future.

As for the day of October tenth, before the Kyuubi was freed on the outskirts of Konoha, it was quite an unremarkable day. Since the only people who knew that today was his birthday were the Hokage, Danzo, and Yamanaka Inoichi, he sincerely doubted that he'd get any well-wishes or presents from anyone like he used to.

Therefore, while it was his birthday, it was also just... another... only thing that made this particular October tenth stand out was that Sarutobi had asked him to summon a few people to his office – those who he was planning on assigning to one of the missions that Sakumo was going to have, but Naruto was taking over. The Hokage had decided not to send any of the original members he had planned on, and instead was going to place shinobi on his team that should be able to support him better, if he was in fact a 'one man army' as he claimed.

Naruto stopped his thoughts as he came up on the outskirts of the Uchiha compound. The area was rather large, even larger than he remembered from when he was younger. Admittedly it may have been the same size – he didn't really pay much attention because Sasuke lived there alone after his entire clan was killed. Neither he nor Sakura really felt like hanging around in that empty area.

The Uchiha compound of this time probably encompassed about one tenth of the total size of the village. Even as other clans arrived and merged with the general populace that mostly consisted of descendants of the Senju, the Uchiha remained separate. As to why, Naruto could only guess. He remembered hearing from Sasuke and even Tsunade that the clan always wanted more say in the village, yet they chose to keep themselves apart from everyone else. Something just didn't add up.

The blond noted that several heads glanced up as he jumped over the compound walls, but returned to what they were doing previously when they probably realized that he was just an ANBU. The outfit itself was rather nice, he had never gotten to wear one previously. Or never chose to, mostly – his typical clothing suited him just fine for as long as he could remember. Unfortunately now he wasn't going to get away with wearing orange, as he quickly found out that a younger Sarutobi Hiruzen was much less likely to be lenient towards a man who was once Hokage and the leader of the United Shinobi Army.

He had found some dull orange fingerless gloves, however, so he wasn't completely without the color that meant a lot to him. The Hokage didn't comment about them either.

Arriving at his destination, Naruto landed in the front porch area and promptly knocked on the front door of the large house. Sasuke's house certainly looked a lot... fresher... compared to how he used to remember it. But that did make sense, since he was just about a quarter of a century in the past.

The door was answered faster than he had been expecting. A young servant girl, judging by her appearance; her eyes went wide when she saw him standing there. He tried not to look intimidating, but with a tanto strapped to his back and the mask covering his face, it was hard not to.

"Hokage-sama requests the presence of Uchiha Mikoto-san as soon as she is able."

At first the young girl in front of him began to nod her head, but then promptly began to shake it negatively. As she opened her mouth to speak, another loud voice – distinctly male – spoke for her.

"I will talk to the ANBU, Orihime. You may resume your duties."

Without a word the young girl quickly turned in the direction that the voice came from and offered a swift bow, then wandered away out of sight. Naruto waited patiently as he waited for the person with the other voice to appear, which they did after another moment.

The man had a face with sharp features, though signs of age were beginning to show. His hair had a faint silver outline, and he walked with a slight limp and a cane. As he noticed Naruto standing there in the doorway, he offered a faint smile.

"You're here for my daughter?"

Naruto quickly processed that this was Mikoto's father, and filed it away for future reference.

"Yes, sir. The Hokage has requested her presence for a mission which her skills are particularly suited for."

"Really now? Did he tell you this?"

"Sort of. I'll be the one leading the mission."

The man standing in the doorway looked him up and down for a moment, before settling on the ANBU tattoo on Naruto's left arm. "I only really know of one young man with hair the color of yours, but he was Mikoto's old genin teammate and as far as I know he hasn't joined ANBU yet. I'm also fairly certain that I know of all the ninja in the village. So you are an anomaly."

"That makes sense, sir." Naruto carefully removed his mask, pulling it over to rest on the side of his head. "I'm one of Hokage-sama's personal shinobi. I'm usually out of the village on long-term operations. My name is Uzumaki Naruto. If you want to know more, I'm sure Hokage-sama would tell you."

"An Uzumaki, huh?" The Uchiha man rubbed at his chin for a moment before nodding. "I think I will have a chat with the boss. Anyway... my daughter is with her fiancé, Fugaku. They had a reservation at a restaurant nearby."

The man rattled off directions for Naruto, and the blond quickly memorized them since it wouldn't be too difficult to find. It was here in the Uchiha compound, which is probably why he didn't recognize it from his time.

"How long ago did they leave? I don't mind waiting a little bit to give them some time."

One of the older man's eyebrows twitched upward for a moment before he barked out a laugh and shook his head. "No – honestly I think it is quite the contrary. She would be happier if you showed up sooner."

Naruto tilted his head to the side, the universal way to go 'huh?', but the man simply continued shaking his head. "It's not for me to explain why. But thank you for being polite. That's something not many are, especially to us Uchiha."

"Why not?"

The aging Uchiha stared at Naruto incredulously for a few seconds before sighing. "You really aren't in the village much, are you? Don't worry about it, explaining would take too much time and you need to go find my daughter. We wouldn't want to keep Hiruzen waiting."

Naruto's eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he placed his mask back over his face. This man and the Hokage were on a first name basis? Ignoring that thought for now, he bowed forward slightly, "By your leave, Uchiha-sama."

"Call me Kagami. It's my name, after all."

"Very well, Kagami-sama." That said, Naruto disappeared in a small swirl of leaves.

Kagami chuckled and shook his head before gently closing the door in front of him.

* * *

Mikoto sighed internally as she stared at the food on her plate. She had nibbled at it of course, to be polite, but her appetite was completely gone. The date so far had been pleasant... but that was it. Just pleasant – and bordering on boring.

She looked across the table at her fiancé, who seemed to be consuming his meal with gusto. He was five years older than her, and had graduated the academy at the top of his class the same amount of time before her. He was a Jonin before she even graduated, and on top of that he was a shoe-in for being the next head of the Konoha Military Police.

For what must have been the millionth time, Mikoto was reviewing why exactly she was engaged to this man. Because he was one of the premier Uchiha was a flimsy excuse, and she knew it. However her father approved of the choice and so did the Uchiha elder council, so their wedding day was very nearly set in stone. They were nice enough to let her choose, or at least it seemed that way – the problem was she didn't know what they'd do if she gained interest in someone who _wasn't _already an Uchiha.

The only thing that would stop it now was if she somehow got cold feet or found someone even better, but she was no coward so backing out for no reason was not something she would do. As for someone better – the only other person she would ever have considered was Minato, but he was already spoken for. She wasn't about to betray her friendship with Kushina.

She watched as someone walked by their table, likely another jonin that Fugaku knew since they began chatting amicably with each other. At least the other person was chatting with some enthusiasm. Fugaku was just sitting there, stony-faced, responding occasionally.

If there was one thing she could change about Fugaku, it would be to have him stop being such a stick in the mud emotionally. Sure, he knew how to get the job done, and while that was great... he had no personality. She grew up around people with tons of emotion, and it made her the same way. Both her father and mother got along great with virtually everyone she knew, and she was on a genin team with Namikaze Minato and Akimichi Taichi, both of whom had strong but fair temperaments. Not to mention her Jonin-sensei was Jiraiya of the Densetsu no Sannin - you'd be hard pressed to find someone with more character than him. Even if it was of the more perverse nature.

Of course Minato was a lot quieter when they were younger, it wasn't until Kushina got her claws into him that he really started to open up. Now, speaking of personalities... she was best friends with the Bloody Habanero! Everyone in the village knew not to mess with her in any way, otherwise you'd regret it later. But yet here she was, stuck with a man who would probably eventually prefer that she be a doting housewife instead of a jonin of Konoha! It was almost as if-

A loud knocking noise on the window they were seated next to gained her attention, as well as Fugaku's, the jonin he was listening to, and a few other patrons seated at tables nearby. Mikoto's first instinct was to ignore it, but then immediately squelched that thought by hoping that perhaps that knocking would lead to something interesting.

Unfortunately her curiosity only managed to embarrass her a bit, because when she turned to look she saw an ANBU pointing at her and then gesturing for her to come outside. Not just any ANBU either, this one had blonde hair. If Minato was pulling her away from her date – even if it was boring as hell – there would be hell to pay.

Frowning, she turned her head to look at Fugaku, who was already staring a hole into her head.

"A mission?"

Mikoto let out a sigh, and gave her head a small shake. "I wasn't expecting anything. I would swear that ANBU is Minato, but I think he'd know better than to interrupt us, especially if it's just to stop by and chat."

"Hn. Try to return quickly."

Mikoto stared at her fiancé with a raised eyebrow for a moment, but his facial expression didn't budge. Feeling even more irritated now, she scoffed and offered a barely noticeable shrug before promptly excusing herself; she was plenty aware of the eyes that were obviously tracking her movements out of the establishment. It wasn't every day that an Uchiha was called upon by the Hokage's ANBU, especially not the clan heir.

Walking briskly but not quite jogging, she forcefully kept herself from breaking into a dead run as she headed for the restaurant's exit. She wasn't sure how urgent the summons were, but she didn't need the _entire _restaurant staring at her.

* * *

Naruto hummed to himself as he waited for Mikoto to appear. It was hard for him to place the expression that he got from her – it started out as completely shocked, only to morph into something that promised much pain for interrupting her dinner date. He barely recognized Fugaku as well; the man still looked like he constantly tasted something bad, even at his current young age. Most of his previous encounters with the man from his childhood were in Fugaku's capacity as chief of the Konoha Military Police, and being the frequent troublemaker that he was, he was in their offices about as often as he was in the Hokage's. Fugaku had habitually ignored Naruto and foisted him off on someone else, or had just dismissed the blond altogether and had someone escort him home. Anything that would keep the 'brat' out of his hair.

Before the massacre, anyway.

He didn't have to wait long, as the moment Mikoto exited the building, she promptly used a shunshin to get close to him, then growled out, "This had better be good, Minato."

Naruto had to stifle a chuckle, he didn't feel like getting a pounding from someone he barely knew now, and not at all when he was a child. Instead, he reached up to his mask, and pulled it slightly to the side so she could see half of his face. Of course it was breaking protocol – ANBU were not supposed to remove their mask on duty – but it was the only way to really prove he was who he said he was.

"First of all, I'm Naruto. I'm sorry to interrupt your date, but your father told me where to find you."

Mikoto blushed, her posture and expression immediately becoming remorseful, if not somewhat embarrassed. She crossed her arms and looked away, "Oh... Uzumaki-san, I'm sorry... I thought you were Minato, here to brag about being in ANBU. He's talked about possibly joining up a lot lately."

Naruto chuckled, waving off the apology. "It's fine. Even just sparring with him a few times I noticed he likes to brag, though he manages to do it in a nice way. We have pretty much the same hair color too, so I understand your thinking I was him."

Mikoto nodded her head, but said nothing further, waiting for him to continue.

"Hokage-sama has selected you for a mission. Meet in his office tomorrow morning at seven. Pack for two weeks minimum."

"A long term mission right before a potential war? What is the rank?"

"It's an A-Rank, unless Hokage-sama specifies otherwise. Even I only know so much."

"Do you know who will be in command?"

Naruto nodded as he moved the mask back to cover his face. "Me." That said, he disappeared in a swirl of leaves, leaving Mikoto standing there.

* * *

Fugaku watched as Mikoto turned around and walked back towards the entrance of the restaurant. He had kept a discreet eye on the proceedings outside, and even if he couldn't hear what was being said, body language was fairly easy to understand.

It was obvious that his fiancée was both surprised and embarrassed about something at the beginning of their conversation, but then it immediately switched over to all business. It remained that way for the rest of their conversation until the ANBU left, and she looked surprised again.

He didn't have to wait long to ask what was going on, as she appeared at their booth and sat down in it sooner than he had expected.

**"**So?"

Mikoto shook for a second as if she was waking up from a trance, then offered a small smile and shook her head. "Sorry. I was just thinking. I've been tapped to go on a mission for two weeks. I have to be ready to leave tomorrow morning."

**"**Rather sudden, don't you think?"

The woman nodded. "Yes. I wasn't expecting it at all. But it's better than sitting around here doing nothing."**  
****  
****"**Yes... village patrols really aren't something you enjoy, do you?"

**"**I know they have to be done, but I prefer to take action. We've been over this."

Fugaku merely grunted as he looked at his food again, and continued eating. It was strange, in his mind, that the Hokage would call on Mikoto of all people to run a mission. She was the Uchiha heir, after all, and if anything happened to her he had no idea what her father Kagami would do. Their clan needed stable leadership, considering their clan's checkered past within the village.

**"**I don't like it."

Mikoto stopped poking at her own food, and looked up at him, startled. "What?"

**"**I said I don't like it. You're going on a mission right at the beginning of what's looking to be the start of the next war. It's too dangerous for the heir to go out of the village right now. Especially if you're going to be gone for two weeks."

Mikoto's utensils dropped to the table and she sent a glare at her fiancé. "So what? I'm just supposed to sit here and be coddled like a princess within the village? I'm a jonin of Konoha, I want to help my village, not just be protected by it!"

Fugaku's eyes became uncharacteristically wide as he suddenly realized he had hit a sore spot. He tried to find the words to deflect or change what he said, but they weren't coming. Mikoto didn't even wait for him to say anything anyway, as she promptly stood back up from their table and stormed out of the restaurant.

All eyes were on her as she left, and then settled on him when she was out of sight. All Fugaku could do was sigh. He knew she was sensitive about the topic of her being a jonin while being the only legitimate heir of the clan. Still, he firmly believed that she had more than just her own wishes to think about. What about the rest of the clan? Other than perhaps the Hyuuga, the Uchiha were the largest clan in the village. That was a lot of people she would have to speak for someday.

**"**Um... I'm sorry sir. Did you want anything else?"

Fugaku eyed the waitress for a second before shaking his head. "No, I'm fine. Thank you."

**"**Very well. Here is the bill for the meal. Thank you for your patronage."

The waitress handed him the bill, and then moved over to another of her tables. He looked at it, then over to Mikoto's mostly untouched meal, then back to the bill again before frowning.

She could have at least paid for her portion if she wasn't going to eat it.

* * *

**A/N:** Reference material, for those who like that stuff. Otherwise it can be ignored.

Name :: Age :: Rank

Naruto - 20 - Jonin Commander  
Mikoto - 19 - Jonin  
Minato - 17 - Jonin  
Kushina - 16 - Special Jonin  
Kakashi - 8 - Chunin

Four people know about Naruto being from the future. Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzo, Hatake Sakumo. Yamanaka Inoichi also knows about Naruto's time traveling, but none of the details. Naruto doesn't really know Danzo the way Sasuke did, so he'll trust him as much as Hiruzen is willing to trust him. Danzo sees Naruto as a sort of ace-in-the-hole, so he'll play by the rules for now.

Chapters will gradually get a bit longer. This one ran about 8 full pages in OpenOffice with a 12 point Times New Roman font, and is just over 4k words. The **average** length of every chapter after this one moving forward is 12 and 1/2 pages. The **longest** chapter in this story is 20 pages. There are 18 written chapters, maybe more if I decide to play around with the ending a bit. Otherwise this story is done and I'm just posting a chapter a week.

~Until next week...


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"_What are you doing?" _

_Tobi turned his head slightly, barely acknowledging the presence of the only truly living Uchiha left. _"_I am doing what I always said I would. I managed to tire out the container of the nine-tails enough to capture him, and I will be starting up the extraction process shortly."_

"_What? We had a deal! Naruto was my target!"_

"_You took too long. I was not going to wait for you to defeat the boy while I sat around twiddling my thumbs. My patience with you has grown thin." __Sasuke stood there, glaring at the aged faux-Uchiha, but said nothing further. Tobi turned his masked face to look at the only other member of Akatsuki still alive._

"_Zetsu, begin the extraction. I will join you after a moment. It will take us awhile, but not as long if Sasuke decides to grow up and join us."_

_The moment he turned around, his instinct began screaming at him that something was wrong. Making himself intangible, he watched as a chidori lance pierced right through where his heart was barely a second ago. __Instead of getting angry, Tobi sighed. That was the biggest liability about Sasuke – he was unstable. The young man was useful at first, but now he had become an annoyance. It seemed as though he really would be the last of his clan._

"_Want help, boss?_"

"_No, Zetsu, proceed with what I asked you. It would appear that I need to teach this -child- a lesson."_

_The space around Tobi warped, and he was no longer there. A noise of surprise and perhaps pain came from Sasuke, and then he warped as well, to who knows where. Deciding to do what he was told, Zetsu brought his hands together in a sign and began the extraction process. The Gedo Mazo glowed briefly, then a white aura surrounded the unconscious Naruto._

_The minutes passed uneventfully other than the occasional rumble and shake that came from above the cavern. Whatever the two men were fighting about, Zetsu did not know, or really care. Sasuke was boring... insanity was only fun to watch for so long, then it just became stupid. As for his boss... he knew better than to cross the man. Somehow he had eyes and ears everywhere, and could warp to your location no matter where you were, at any time._

_Zetsu had considered sending a clone to go watch their pissing contest, but with his chakra split the extraction would just take longer and probably anger Tobi in the long run. That was something he really had no desire to see, let alone face._

_Zetsu was brought out of his musings as he noticed that the chakra streaming from Naruto into the Gedo Mazo seemed to be shrinking, but it was way too soon for the job to be done. Focusing his __chakra through the statue, the amount of Kyuubi's chakra being pulled away seemed to slow to a trickle, which was the exact opposite of what was supposed to happen._

_Suddenly there was a blast of golden-orange chakra that shot away from Naruto, directly towards the statue. A loud groaning noise filled the cavern, and several cracks began to appear on various places across the surface of the Gedo Mazo. __Startled, Zetsu's concentration faltered, and the statue let out another groaning noise as it stopped taking in the Kyuubi's chakra. Actually, it reversed... the reddish chakra was somehow being pulled out of the statue, back into the blond jinchuuriki!_

_Things happened quickly at that point. There was another rumble and shake, and then an explosion near the entrance of the cavern. As he turned around to investigate, another force came up from behind him, somehow grabbing him by the neck and both sides, and pulling him out of the ground in which he had partially hidden himself. __He heard footsteps start to walk around him, and quickly discovered that it was Naruto. Apparently he was being held in place by the teen's clones. He tried to drain chakra from them through his spores and skin contact, but found them to be surprisingly resistant._

"_W-What? How did... you should be exhausted!"_

"_A risky gamble to find the Gedo Mazo."_

"_But still! None of the other Jinchuuriki were able to stop the bijuu from being pulled out of them. _**_It's supposed to be impossible._"**

_Naruto smirked, "Nothing is impossible. I didn't want to let go of the Kyuubi, and he didn't want to leave me. Our wills combined were stronger than that of the Gedo Mazo. I let myself get captured so that I could find it and release the other bijuu."_

_Before Zetsu could say anything further, Naruto had formed a Rasengan and shoved it into the plant-like person's face, killing both his light and dark halves immediately. Or at least that's what it seemed like... one could never be too certain with that shinobi. __Unlike previous times he had hit Zetsu with his Rasengan, however, this time greenish-red blood and brain matter was scattered about, so it may very well have been the real one._

"_So it looks like your gamble paid off?"_

_Naruto sighed in relief as he heard the familiar voice, "Yes, baa-chan. I told you."_

_Tsunade let out a 'hmph' as she moved closer to the younger blond, inspecting him carefully. Naruto quickly noted that she was in her Hokage battle gear, something he had only seen her in once or twice previous. "Your job is done. Shizune and Ino are outside waiting to check your vitals and then escort you along with the Tsuchikage to the base camp."_

"_What? I can help-"_

"_No. That's an order. It was already a risk letting yourself get captured. The Raikage is here with me, and with the forces we've brought we can take care of the statue and hopefully scatter the bijuu - even destroy them as a last resort so Tobi has to wait for them to reform. That will give us about another eight years to take him down."_

_ Tsunade looked around the cavern briefly, "Where is Tobi, anyway?"_

_Naruto simply pointed upward. "Probably somewhere outside. I heard them talking while pretending to be unconscious. Sasuke threw a tantrum because apparently Tobi went behind his back and captured me. They're likely still fighting about it. If you destroy the statue, I wouldn't be surprised if Tobi kills Sasuke because of the distraction."_

"_I hope you're not going to try and stop us from destroying the Gedo Mazo, if that's the case."_

_Naruto waved his hand. "I stopped caring when he tried to kill me for what, the fifth time? I won't actively seek him out, but if Tobi doesn't kill him and he manages to cross my path again I'll kill him this time. Both Sakura-chan and Kakashi agree, they have for a while now."_

_Tsunade nodded at the other blond, then turned to look at the Gedo Mazo. "Alright. Get out of here. That's an order."_

"_See you back at camp, baa-chan."_

"_Brat."_

* * *

Naruto was currently crouched behind the checking booth, observing his apparent support team. He had only gone to collect one of them, and the Sandaime said that he would surprise the blond with the rest.

He decided to reveal himself a little later so that he could be prepared in case there were any surprises on his team – which there was. Mikoto was easy enough to spot, since he had grabbed her for the mission just yesterday. His future father, Minato was there as well, and he had to admit that he was completely blindsided by that addition. He thought that the other blond would have been tapped for more important missions than this. His mother was there as well, but she didn't seem to be part of their team, as she had no backpack or gear that he could see on or near her, so she was likely just saying goodbye.

The other member that caught him completely unawares was Hatake Kakashi. The silver hair was a dead giveaway, but the boy couldn't have been more than eight or nine years old. The teammates he had heard about, Rin and Obito were nowhere to be seen, so their team likely hadn't been formed yet. He didn't know why the Hokage put a chunin on the team, but perhaps Sakumo wanted Kakashi to get to know him now? He'd have to ask when he got back. There was another male present that he didn't know, but likely an Akimichi based on his stature. He would find out soon enough, though, as he listened in on their conversation.

**"**... packed enough? You really need to pack more than a few ration bars and spare kunai..."**  
****  
**That was his mother, likely berating his father on what seemed to be bad packing habits. Now he knew which side of the family he inherited that from.

**"**... to have our old team back together. I thought stuff like this was pretty rare. Do you have any idea..."

That was the larger male, talking to Mikoto. Apparently he had been on a team with her before, and since most genin teams had three members and a sensei, that means Minato would be the third person of their team. What _was _the Sandaime thinking?

**"**... any later, I'm going to report it to the Sandaime. We were supposed to have left fifteen minutes ago..."

Crap. That was Mikoto. Perhaps trying to be late on purpose wasn't such a good idea. How did Kakashi manage to get away with it so often in the future? Entering a shunshin, he moved quickly to the top of the nearest building, then down into the alleyway where it connected to the main street leading to the exit. Speeding up into a jog as he rounded the corner, he noticed as Minato spotted him, then nudged Mikoto and pointed in his direction.

If the scowl on Mikoto's face was any indication, he was in for it. Unfortunately, he didn't think to come up with an adequate excuse. Perhaps he'd just have to 'borrow' one from the future.

Sure enough, it was Mikoto who opened fire with a 'You're late!' as soon as he was within earshot. Naruto simply offered her a small smile, immediately thinking back to the days of his own genin team... so he couldn't resist waving his hand and nonchalantly explaining his reason. "Sorry about that. A black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way around."

The person Naruto believed was an Akimichi promptly barked out a laugh, and Kushina had mirth in her eyes as she held her hand up to her mouth, evidently to cover the smile on her face. Minato was smiling openly, while Kakashi simply rolled his eyes. Mikoto on the other hand - she looked like she wanted to cut his head off, right then and there. Naruto knew he had to nip this potential issue in the bud before it became a problem later. While it was true that they were little more than acquaintances, he didn't want to give her a totally wrong impression of himself. She had opened her mouth to start talking again, but Naruto spoke up first, cutting her off.

**"**First of all, I'm sorry for being late, but at the same time it was a bit of a test. It's been a while since I've had to lead a small team, and I don't know any of you that well. This was just so I could see what your personalities were like. I was here five minutes before Kakashi arrived, observing you all."

Mikoto and Minato seemed shocked to hear that, exactly why, he wasn't sure. Even Kakashi seemed a bit startled.

**"**Aniki... how could you have been here all this time? I didn't sense you at all, and I've always been told that I'm pretty good at sensing chakra signatures."

Naruto nodded at Kushina, and decided to show them. "Give me just a second, and you'll see. You can all feel my presence now, correct?"

After getting nods from everyone, he closed his eyes and concentrated. Standing completely still and letting his breathing calm down, he focused on nature, and called its energy to him, and let it surround him like a warm blanket. It was just enough to coat him slightly, but not enough to give him his full range of Sage powers.

The startled gasp he heard made him open his eyes, and he focused on Kushina, who seemed to be staring at him with more shock than any of the others. **"**You... you disappeared! I can see you standing right in front of me, but your chakra is gone! That should be impossible, I can even sense the small amounts of chakra that civilians have, but I can't even get that. It's like you're invisible."

Naruto nodded slowly. "I have a way of masking my chakra and making myself completely invisible. That's one of the reasons why Hokage-sama used me for some of his hardest missions... because I couldn't be detected." That was a complete lie, of course, but they didn't know that. Unless he told any of them the truth, they never would know either.

**"**So now that I'm here, we'll hit the road. Hokage-sama tells me that you guys are going to be my backup and support in case anything goes wrong. That means you'll just be on standby, so if all goes well, you may not even need to see any action at all. First, however..." Naruto turned his head to look at the person who he believed was an Akimichi. "I don't know who you are. My name is Uzumaki Naruto," he stated, offering his hand.

The other young man gave him a smile and a quick nod, meeting him for the handshake. "Akimichi Taichi. It's nice to meet you, Uzumaki-san. I didn't realize there were any Uzumaki in the village other than Kushina-san."

Naruto grinned, "No one else did either until the other day. I have been a very well-kept secret, but with another war potentially looming on the horizon, Hokage-sama can't afford to keep me hidden anymore. That's part of the reason why I'm leading this mission. I'll explain our objectives as we get moving. Everyone - say your goodbyes to Kushina-san, because we're moving out in five."

After the small chorus of affirmatives, Naruto watched with detached interest as Kushina made her rounds, saying goodbye to everyone. She gave Taichi a nod and rubbed Kakashi's head – which he didn't seem to mind, surprisingly – and gave Mikoto a big hug. Minato took a little longer as she pampered him as usual, though either his father was playing it cool or was used to her behavior, because he took it all in stride and kept a smile on his face the entire time.

Thinking everyone was done, Naruto called for the group to head out, only to be stopped as his arm was grabbed, he was turned around, and pulled into a hug that caught him completely by surprise. So much surprise, in fact, that he went completely rigid.

A small giggle caused him to look down slightly at a mane of red hair pressed against his chest. "You know, you're supposed to hug back when a girl hugs you. You didn't seem to have this problem last time."

**"**Errr... yeah," Naruto managed to stutter out before slowly wrapping his arms around Kushina's back in an awkward manner. This only caused Kushina to laugh again as she broke the impromptu hug, and stuck her tongue out at him.**"**We're going to have to work on that when you get back, Aniki."

Naruto simply offered a sad smile, and nervously scratched at the back of his neck. "Yeah... I haven't exactly had much practice in showing or receiving stuff like that. I can probably count the number of times I've been hugged on both hands."

Kushina seemed strangely crestfallen at that, but then seemed to get a gleam of determination in her eyes and shouted for him to 'Just wait until he gets back!'. Not quite sure what to make of it, he offered her a simple nod, then stiffly walked towards the exit, his team following behind him.

**"**It looks like Kushina has found her next victim, eh Minato?"

**"**I don't know, Taichi. She hasn't hit him yet, so maybe it will be different."

**"**At least Kushina-oneesan didn't leave him in a bloody mess on the ground. She even hugged him first. What's up with that?"

**"**I don't know, Kakashi. But judging from how stiff Naruto's back looks, I don't think he was expecting the hug he got."

Naruto listened to them ramble on as they took to the trees, unsure if they were trying to goad him into speaking or warn him about what Kushina was capable of. Interestingly enough, Mikoto was completely quiet throughout the entire exchange, and Naruto wasn't too eager to look over his shoulder to see what expression was on her face after she looked like she wanted to kill him before.

* * *

**"**Uzumaki-san."

Naruto turned his head slightly, acknowledging Mikoto's presence. They had set up camp for the night in the middle of the forest, since they all agreed that they were perhaps another day away from the eastern coast. Their mission was taking them to Water Country, and getting there would probably take about four days total.

**"**Shouldn't you be sleeping, Mikoto-san? We have an early start tomorrow."

Naruto had volunteered for first watch, and Minato had volunteered for second. Each watch would be about three and a half hours, so the rest of the team would get approximately seven hours of sleep. They would alternate watch shifts each day. Naruto had left a clone in the camp, while he had moved to a nearby stream to meditate.

**"**I'm having a hard time sleeping. I admit that it upset me you left a single clone to guard the camp. What would you do if we were attacked?"**  
****  
**Naruto pivoted himself slightly so that he could look directly at the woman, his piercing blue eyes boring directly into hers. He mentally applauded her when she didn't flinch or look away, but met his challenge openly. In the future he had perfected his stare, making many people flinch and second-guess themselves. It wasn't something he liked to do, but during a war you learn the hard way that there is a certain discipline that must be maintained, lest everything fall apart around you.

**"**Three things. First, we're still in the middle of Fire Country, so any attacks by anything or anyone other than a dumbass bandit group is highly unlikely. Second, my clones are Shadow Clones, so any time one of them is dispelled their memories come to me immediately. I could be back in camp in a few , you probably didn't notice that there were a few extra stones and logs around the camp. I made eight clones, and seven of them transformed into other objects. So in case anyone did try anything, they would be in for a nasty surprise."

If Mikoto was in any way upset, angry, or emotionally changed by what he said, she did a marvelous job of hiding it. There was a slight shift in her eyes that he barely noticed in the darkess around them, but that was it. The woman simply nodded her head towards him and spoke in a low tone, "I see. I apologize for distracting you during your watch, Uzumaki-san. I shall try to be more mindful of my surroundings in the future."

That said, she promptly turned back around and headed back towards the camp. Naruto listened to her footsteps until they disappeared, and only then did he let the confusion show on his face.

Was she always like this? Talk about hard to read...

* * *

_Five days later..._

Naruto sighed as he dodged the bone projectiles, yet again wondering why he was even bothering with this mission. For the umpteenth time he had to remind himself that it was because it was what Sarutobi wanted, it was one of the missions that Sakumo _may _have failed in the future that got him to kill himself, and he needed to prove he was trustworthy.

Oh, he knew that Minato was on the team to observe him, and Mikoto probably was too. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if that was the reason for their entire team being here. Kakashi was probably just added as a distraction, of sorts – even if he was a skilled distraction. Kakashi also referred to Minato as 'senpai' or 'san' and not as 'sensei', which again reminded Naruto that they likely didn't have the relationship yet that Naruto knew they had later on.

**"**Stay still, Konoha scum!"

Naruto snorted, then quickly formed a low-powered Rasengan in his hand and sped up close to the Kaguya clan member, pressing the spinning ball of chakra directly into the man's torso. From what little he remembered about fighting Kimimaro, their clan had a blood limit that allowed them to use bones in quite creative ways. It wasn't as hard to locate their clan as he thought it might be, since they had entered the Bloody Mist's Civil War, everyone without a bloodline knew exactly where to find them and they were perpetually on high alert.

Of course always being on alert would eventually tire them out and lead to their eventual demise. No matter how skilled one was, you couldn't win when you weren't well rested. The blond recalled that Kimimaro was notoriously difficult to injure and even Gaara and Lee had a hard time killing him. Then there was also the fact that Orochimaru had likely been experimenting on him for a while. However, it must have been him alone that had a high tolerance to pain.

Unlike Kimimaro, the person that Naruto hit with the Rasengan screamed and went flying, landing hard on his back several meters away. Several members of the clan ran over to him as the man laid on the ground, groaning and clutching his chest.

**"**What did you do to Nobu? Are you here to kill us all?"

Naruto turned to look at a woman who was standing nearby in a defensive posture, her eyes remaining on him even though they occasionally twitched towards her fallen clan member. She didn't have the two pale dots above and between her eyes like some of the other members and the Kimimaro from his future did, and she wasn't preparing to attack him with bones either. He guessed she was from outside the clan, but was now with them through marriage or other means.

**"**I asked to talk to your leader and he attacked me. I heard the Kaguya clan was bloodthirsty, but this is a little ridiculous."

**"**We're in the middle of a Civil War, in case you didn't know, since you're not from around here. Asking to see or speak to the leader of a bloodline clan when you aren't a member of one is tantamount to declaring war against the clan."

Naruto sighed internally. Of all the stupid... "I see. I apologize then. Can you relay the message that I'm here with an offer to the Kaguya clan to join Konoha as a full clan, with all the rights that entails, so long as you swear loyalty to our Hokage. There is a greater war on the horizon, and we would like to offer an easy way out of the Civil War in Water Country."

**"**Fool, why would we want to leave one war only to enter another?"

Naruto looked to face another member of the clan, this time it was one who did have the pale reddish dots on his face. "Because you'd have the entire Fire Country behind your back, not just other bloodline clans. Konoha is also home to plenty other strong clans, some even without bloodlines that can match the strength of those with."

Another clan member snorted. "No clan can be stronger than one with a bloodline."

Naruto resisted the urge to slap his hand against his forehead. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, a member of the Uzumaki clan... or what is left of it. While many of us were experts at fuuinjutsu, our only talent in our blood was that of an extended lifespan. I'm sure you all know of us, and how our home was destroyed during the second war?"

There were a few scattered nods, enough to the point where Naruto was comfortable continuing with his speech. "Good, then you know we are nothing special as warriors. However, I've lived in Konoha all my life, and one thing Konoha has is the Will of Fire. The will to believe in others as much as you believe in yourself, that protecting what you care about only makes you stronger. I want to protect my home from the coming war. Bring your three strongest warriors, and I will beat them, proving that what is in your blood does not make you strong; It's what is in your heart."

Many of the members of the Kaguya clan looked amongst each other – Naruto noticed that quite a large group of them had gathered around to listen to him. One of the more elderly among them stepped forward, which caused a few of the other clan members to look at him in shock. Based on their expressions, this man must have been the leader of the clan.

**"**Young man, am I to assume that your Hokage has given you the authority to speak on his behalf?"

Naruto nodded, slowly reaching into a pouch on his vest and pulling out a small scroll. A few members of the Kaguya clan tensed in case he was going to pull a weapon, but none of them made any overt movements, to which he was grateful. He took a few steps forward and offered the scroll to the older man, palm facing up and open to show he was not hiding a weapon in his hands.

The older man must have noticed this, as he nodded and gave Naruto a small smile before grabbing the rolled scroll and opening it. The blond looked around the small compound as the man conferred with a few others as they read the scrolls contents. It wasn't much, really, possibly one fifth of the size of the Uchiha district back in Konoha, but that meant the numbers of their clan was probably even with one of the smaller clans in Konoha, like the Aburame or Kurama Clans.

However since they were in the middle of a Civil War it was also likely that this was a temporary hideout, many clans in Konoha had their own secret compounds that they could visit or use in emergencies, quite often they were simply left over from times before Konoha was formed.

**"**Uzumaki-san, how many days travel did it take you to get here?"

Naruto focused his attention on the older man again before speaking, "A little over four days, traveling at full speed with a small team."

**"**A small team? They let you come here alone?"

**"**I'm stronger than my entire team combined if I was to go all out. I don't mean to brag, but it's true and I could prove it should it be necessary. My Hokage knows this. They were sent as support so I could get rest while they keep a small camp as a... safe zone."

**"**Very well." The Kaguya elder rubbed at his chin as he eyed Naruto speculatively, "How long until you arrive back in Konoha?"

**"**My mission duration was set for two weeks. I will contact as many clans as I can before my time expires. Setting aside about four days for travel time, that gives me a little over four days to talk to as many clans as I can."

**"**Hm, so we aren't the only ones you are after? At least you're honest. I can appreciate that, not many know the value of honesty these days."

Naruto nodded and decided to toss another bit of information at them, "Hokage-sama also says that if you still have the blood plague that infects your clan, he will recall Tsunade of the Densetsu no Sannin to try to find a cure."

_That _particular comment got a few shocked gasps and exclamations from the small gathering. Apparently their little problem wasn't well known outside of the clan, or at least they didn't think it was. It didn't affect all of them, but it was crippling to those that it did. That was one of the larger reasons why their clan had died out by the time Naruto was growing up – the Civil War whittled down their healthy members while the disease claimed the rest.

**"**We were already prepared to travel to Konoha. But that just offered more incentive. Please give your Hokage our thanks, and expect the Kaguya clan in about one months time."

Naruto smiled in relief, that was one clan down, and they actually accepted to boot. As he turned to leave, a vague memory tickled at the back of his mind... was Kimimaro born yet? Perhaps when the clan arrived, he would have to investigate.

He could almost hear Kyuubi ranting to him about the Chaos Theory now...

Almost.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

_Naruto sat alone in his tent, his hand clenched around one of the few pictures of Tsunade that he had. After returning to camp, Naruto had decided to take a nap, only to wake up to chaos. Tobi had gone on a rampage after he found out that Naruto got away and the Gedo Mazo was destroyed – or mostly destroyed anyway._

_From the scattered reports they had gotten from the survivors who had made it back, they had almost released the bijuu and destroyed the containment seals in the Gedo Mazo. They were going to finally make it crumble, but Tobi had appeared before them._

_Without saying a word he had managed to decimate their forces that had remained behind to complete the destruction. They lost the majority of their forces, but the biggest loss was that of Tsunade, the Hokage. No one who survived and made it back could really say what happened. One second they were fighting, and the next second the Hokage had been thrown back against one of the walls of the nearby cavern. She never rose after that._

_Ei, the Raikage, had attempted to check on her, but Tobi had teleported right in front of the Raikage and did the same thing. Ei went flying into the wall as well, but he proved to be more resilient than the Hokage as he remained conscious, if barely moving. __Tobi moved to finish the man off, but as if on cue the Gedo Mazo began to groan and fall apart, distracting the immortal. He quickly lost interest in the two Kage's, and instead focused his efforts on keeping the statue together._

_The remaining forces that were still alive managed to recover the wounded while Tobi was distracted, including the Raikage and Hokage. Upon their return, the dead had been laid to rest, including Tsunade. As for the Raikage, he had a crushed lower spine, and would likely never be able to walk again. Had Tsunade still been alive, Ei may have been able to at least walk again without assistance, but with her death he would likely remain a cripple for the rest of his life._

"_Naruto."_

_Snapped from his musings, the blond slowly looked up to see who was addressing him. His eyes widened to see Nara Shikaku standing before him. He hadn't even heard the man come into the room._

"_What do you need, Shikaku-san?"_

_The older man smiled grimly, "The Jonins all took a vote, and we've already talked to the daimyo through the shinobi we have stationed with him. I've got some people I need you to talk with, if you're feeling up to it."_

_Nodding slowly, Naruto slowly rose to his feet, and wiped at his eyes._

"_There's no rush. Take your time and prepare yourself."_

_Naruto gave the man a curious look, but Shikaku's face betrayed no emotion. Shrugging, the young man wandered over towards his wash basin, quickly splashing some water on his face and then grabbing a towel to dry off. Taking a deep breath and steadying himself, Naruto nodded at Shikamaru's __father, only for the man to nod in return and gesture towards the tent flap._

_Steeling himself, Naruto stepped outside, only to stop halfway and stare wide-eyed at the assembly before him. It looked like every person from the camp was standing outside, be they from Konoha or elsewhere. The Kazekage Gaara, Tschukiage Onoki, Mizukage Mei, and even the now-crippled Raikaige Ei was sitting on a rock in the front of the group, staring at him expectantly._

_He felt a gentle nudge from behind, and remembered that Shikaku was behind him. Taking a step forward, he promptly turned around to face the other man._

_The question he was going to ask died on his lips as Shikaku spoke up first, a small grin on his face._

"_It might be a little sudden, but... __The United Shinobi Army awaits your commands, Rokudaime Hokage-sama."_

* * *

Naruto traveled quickly through the willow trees of Water Country, heading back towards where his team should be waiting at the camp. He had just finished talking with the leading council of the Yuki clan – or what he kept thinking of as Haku's clan. He saw Haku's features in a few of the people there, men and women alike, but had no idea if the person who would become the boy's mother was there.

At first, it caused him no small amount of regret that his actions may keep Haku from even being born. There was a chance that his mother may have already fled the clan – they themselves had claimed that some people had already left to try to hide what they were, to escape the fighting. At least Naruto thought it was Haku's mother that was part of the clan. It had been so long that he didn't really remember.

Many of the clan seemed surprised that Naruto had even come to them, but not so much after the blond claimed he owed it to a member of the Yuki clan to try – that he had a debt that he may never be able to fully repay, but this was a small start. Haku was the one who made him as strong as he was, after all.

The blond began to slow down as he felt more presences than he should have at his camp. That didn't bode well. Immediately making a clone, he had it stop and concentrate to prepare sage mode as he continued onwards. Hopefully it wouldn't be needed, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Using the purified Kyuubi's chakra would be a last resort, of course, mostly because he didn't know how long it would last, nor how quickly the chakra would regenerate without the Kyuubi's actual consciousness being in him.

As he watched the clone sit down and begin to meditate, he pumped up his own chakra, letting it shine like a beacon so his team would know that he was coming.

* * *

Minato's keen eyes noticed as both Mikoto and one of the Mist shinobi in front of them suddenly went rigid. Kakashi must have felt something too, since he had turned his head slightly to look over his shoulder, behind them all. Focusing his own senses in the direction Kakashi was looking, it took him a moment longer to feel what they felt. Someone or something really, really strong was headed directly for them at quick speeds. Judging from the looks on the Mist shinobi's faces, they weren't expecting anyone.

"I will ask again. What are you doing in Water Country?"

"I can only give you the same answer," Minato sighed. "We're here on a diplomatic mission. That's all I've been allowed to say."

"I bet they are trying to poach the ones with cursed blood, Yagura-sama. If we let them do that, they may use Konoha to regroup and attack us later."

"What?" Minato stared incredulously at the Mist shinobi who had spoken. "We wouldn't do something like that!"

"You mean poach, or attacking us?" the other shinobi sneered at him.

Minato was about to retort, but a look from Mikoto made him bite his tongue. She shot a pointed look towards the apparent leader of their forces, who was looking back into the trees behind them in the same general direction that Kakashi had been. The strangest thing was that the very young boy seemed to have the respect of the other Kiri shinobi, yet he had a look on his face that resembled something close to... fear?

"I'm surprised to see you here, Yagura."

Minato's head snapped around quickly upon hearing Naruto's voice, and at the same time wondered if that chakra presence he felt before was the other blond. Not only that, but how did he know this Yagura? Was there something-

"Who are you? How do you know my name?"

Since it was the boy who spoke, that confirmed Yagura was his name. But now the exact same question was bouncing around in his head. How did Naruto know such a young boy?

"I know a lot about you, Yagura." Naruto hopped down from the branch he had been resting on, landing in front of the team, facing the Mist group. "Are you already acting under compulsion? How long has it been already since you last were truly yourself?"

Minato watched as the boy's face went through several strange facial contortions, his eyes seeming to light up and fade at various intervals.

"Y-you! What are you saying to Yagura-sama! Take that back this instant! Yagura-sama is incredibly powerful and would crush you like a bug! Once we squash the bloodline rebels, he will be the next Mizukage!"

Naruto barely spared a glance at the shinobi who spoke, instead choosing to keep his focus on who he knew to be the one time future Mizukage.

"Come on, Yagura, I know you're there. You don't want to fight, or even kill – you're very young and you've seen enough of that already to last a lifetime, because of both who and what you are." _That _comment caused the Mist shinobi to fall into ready stances, and even Yagura looked rather shocked. Minato and the rest of the Leaf team, however, settled for looking on in apparent confusion.

"H-how do you know things about Yagura-sama?" One of the shinobi, likely the senior one after Yagura himself, took a step forward, weapons ready.

Naruto tossed him a casual glance. "I know a lot of things. I know he doesn't want to fight, but has been compelled to do a lot of things that he doesn't want to. I'm asking him to be strong, and try to break through it."

Yagura promptly lurched forward groaning as he clutched at his head. A few of the shinobi moved to help him, but he waved it off, slowly lifting his head to stare at Naruto. He looked about ready to say something, but the shinobi who had been yelling before likely couldn't stand the impasse any more, and launched himself at Naruto.

Minato barely had time to react himself, and he heard Mikoto and Taichi shout out Naruto's name. No action was needed on their part, however, as Naruto merely moved his arm in a slashing motion. The Mist shinobi appeared to trip and fall over nothing, then began screaming as his leg fell off just below his knee.

Two of the shinobi nearest him moved to staunch the blood-flow, while the others were looking unsure about it being a good idea to attack Naruto like their comrade.

"If you get him to a healer soon, he can probably have his lower leg reattached and still use it. It's a clean cut. I'm not here to fight you or your shinobi, Yagura."

The young boy appeared conflicted for several seconds before his eyes cleared and he began barking out orders. "I need some people to carry him. We're returning to the village." With a glance at Naruto, he inquired, "I trust you will be out of Water Country by nightfall?"

"You have my word."

"Very well. It was... interesting to meet you. I still don't know your name."

"Naruto."

Yagura nodded slowly. "You know more about me than most others, it seems. Strange, because I don't remember you at all. Perhaps you can answer my questions some other time, once I'm..."

Whatever Yagura was going to say was cut off as he clutched at his forehead again. The next time he opened his eyes, they were dull and unfocused again. Without a word, he turned around and left the area, the Mist shinobi following him and carrying their wounded and moaning comrade with them.

Once they could no longer hear the movement of the shinobi through the trees, Naruto turned around and offered his team a small smile. "Everyone okay? Sorry I was gone for so long."

They all looked among each other and shrugged before Taichi spoke, "I think we were more ready to die of boredom before anything else. Though that was a tricky situation with that... Yagura. Thanks for showing up when you did."

"No problem. What was he doing here anyway?"

Minato shook his head, "I have no idea. He didn't believe me either when I said we were here for diplomatic reasons, and that we didn't want to fight. He had just asked us for the third time right before you showed up."

"I see. I guess it's good I showed up when I did, then. I would have been back sooner, but talking with the Yuki clan took longer than I expected."

"Did you manage to talk to everyone you planned on?"

Naruto nodded at Minato. "Six bloodline clans."

Mikoto looked shocked at this revelation, as did Taichi. Kakashi seemed nonplussed, but was staring at Naruto with rapt attention. Minato was surprised as well – not just at the fact that Naruto had talked to six clans about coming to Konoha, but that he had made it back alive after talking to them.

"We have until tonight, right? Did you want us to come with you to visit the Kaguya?"

"Hm? Oh, I talked to them first."

Now Minato was speechless. Everyone knew how bloodthirsty that clan's reputation was, and the fact that Naruto went there and talked to them alone – Minato didn't know if Naruto was brilliant, brave, strong, or incredibly stupid. Or some strange mix of all four. The fact that the other blond was here with them now and seemed to be very nonchalant about the entire thing spoke volumes in his favor, however. Strangely though, things seemed to be going almost too well.

Naruto took all of their incredulous stares in stride, and gave Minato a tight smile. "We should probably get out of here tonight, I don't want to test Yagura. We'll be heading back a couple days early, but our objectives have been met for the most part. There were a few clans I didn't get to talk to yet, but maybe we'll get lucky and word will travel between them all. I only got confirmation from the Kaguya that they would come, but the others are going to wait and see."

"You managed to get the Kaguya clan? Are they really not as bloodthirsty as I've heard?" Mikoto was shaking her head, obviously not believing what Naruto was saying.

"No, they are. I just promised them something they really wanted to hear."

"What?"

Naruto shook his head, offering Mikoto a smile along with an apology, "I can't say. Hokage-sama's orders. He may tell you if you ask."

Mikoto crossed her arms over her chest and frowned, only for Taichi to chuckle and give her a gentle pat on the shoulder. Before anyone could say anything else about the matter, Naruto turned away from the group and went still for a moment.

"Naruto?"

"Hm?"

Minato stared curiously at Naruto's back. "Is something wrong?"

The other blond slowly shook his head. "No. I just made a clone and used it to store up natural energy in case I needed to use it. I didn't, so I'm just dispelling that energy now."

"Natural energy?"

Those were the first words that Kakashi had spoken this entire time, which surprised everyone. One thing that was generally known about Kakashi – he wasn't the type who usually took an active interest in the abilities of others. Something about Naruto must have made the silver haired boy curious.

"Yeah." Naruto turned around, and Minato noticed that there was an orange-colored pigmentation around his eyes that was slowly fading away. "I can use the energy of nature to augment my own abilities. It comes in handy sometimes."

Now Minato was curious too, "Can anyone do it?"

"No. You need to have a certain amount of chakra. Ask Ero-sennin, I'm sure he could tell you."

Minato's head tilted slightly to the side. "Ero... sennin?"

Naruto's eyes went wide for a second before he groaned and slapped his forehead. "Oh, right. He'll probably kill me for saying that to someone else. I'm talking about Jiraiya."

"You know Jiraiya-sensei?" Minato wanted to laugh about the Ero-sennin name, but Jiraiya wasn't really a hermit. He just traveled a lot. The other observation about him being perverted was spot on, though pretty much everyone knew about his habits.

"Yes, I know all of the Densetsu no Sannin."

Minato opened his mouth to ask more, but Naruto silenced him with a wave of his hand. "You can ask me all the questions you want when we get back to Fire County. I'll answer what I can. But for now, we should probably pack up and get moving. I don't feel like fighting one of the Mist's Jinchuuriki if I can help it."

There were some shocked squawks from the group, unbelieving that they had come close to fighting a jinchuuriki. Fortunately, though, it didn't take much more prodding for everyone to agree to begin packing, though that didn't stop Mikoto and Minato from glancing at Naruto from time to time. There was definitely more to him than met the eye, that was for certain.

* * *

When they were about an hour from the nearest port village, Naruto stopped in his tracks and cursed, causing the rest of the group to stop and stare at him curiously.

**"**Have any of you ever fought a bijuu before?"

The group all looked at each other, shaking their heads. All of their thoughts immediately went back to the comment Naruto made before they began leaving.

**"**Well, there's a first time for everything I guess. Yagura is the Jinchuuriki of the Sanbi. I hope you're ready, because he's hauling ass to get here. I guess he changed his mind about us leaving, or someone changed his mind for him."

It was likely Tobi. He probably somehow found out that Naruto knew a little too much about Yagura, and was going to send his pet jinchuuriki to kill the blond. It was still too soon for Naruto to show any of his abilities, especially when the Madara clone could be watching. He'd just have to do his best to work with his team to subdue the Sanbi in any way possible.

**"**This is probably going to be a ninjutsu fight. Genjutsu won't work because I'm pretty sure there is one already active on him, and that is why he's attacking us now. Taijutsu is out of the question, you'll just get burnt." Naruto stared at Minato, who was giving him his rapt attention, "Do you know any chakra suppression seals?"

Minato shook his head negatively. "Not one that can suppress a bijuu's chakra."

**"**Okay. I know one, but it's not that good and I need to concentrate. That means you guys need to keep him off balance using whatever you can."

Before any of them could agree or disagree, Yagura came bursting through the trees, tearing across the ground directly at Naruto. The young boy had the deep red bijuu cloak surrounding his body, like all jinchuuriki could do, and the three tails were streaming along behind him.

Yagura took a swing at Naruto, and the blond called up a little bit of the Kyuubi's chakra to coat his hand. Naruto caught the fist, and watched as Yagura's eyes opened in surprise. The blond faked a wince to make it look like it hurt, then promptly backed off and formed a mud wall between them.

As a shadow fell over Naruto, he looked up to see that Taichi had expanded as was typical of an Akimichi, and brought his fist down hard on the ground. It was on the other side of the wall so Naruto couldn't see what, if anything had happened to Yagura; he seriously doubted Taichi would even give Yagura a scratch, but all he needed was a distraction.

He got that distraction too, as he noticed Mikoto start up one of the renowned Uchiha techniques – the Phoenix Flower. A multitude of small, bird-shaped fiery projectiles were launched toward Yagura. As he mentally prepared himself to create the seal, he absently noticed his father was moving around near Mikoto too, starting up a technique of his own, but he didn't bother watching to see what it was.

Taichi pulled back his hand right before there were several loud noises from the techniques impacting, but still held his hand with a wince. Bijuu chakra was not nice to exposed skin. He heard Kakashi's voice as the young teen prepped an attack as well, but tried to ignore it as he pulled out a blank sheet of chakra paper that he kept with himself for drawing seals.

Naruto bit his finger, using his own blood as the ink, charging the symbols with his chakra as he drew. The only problem with using his own blood is that he often had to re-bite his fingertip several times, as it would heal right in the middle of drawing. For the most part he was able to keep his attention focused on drawing the seal, only having to dodge once as a rather large piece of debris headed his way.

He would have to thank Taichi later for the heads up.

When he finally finished the seal, he was pleased with himself for barely a moment before recognizing the telltale humming noise of the Tailed Beast Ball being charged.

**"**Shit! Get out of the way! There is no way to stop that attack!"

Taichi was already behind Yagura, and looked to be ready to attack, only stopping when Naruto told them to get away. Not paying any further attention to the Akimichi, Naruto focused on who _was _in the path of the attack, only to see Kakashi and Mikoto there. They were too far to hear him, but Minato must have heard the original shout, as he was already moving towards them. Being closer to the raven-haired woman he simply grabbed Mikoto and shouted towards Kakashi, then bodily hauled his old teammate away.

That just left Kakashi who was already turning to leave the blast area, but Naruto knew the area of effect for the Menacing Ball. The silver-haired kid wouldn't make it out of the blast radius in time. He didn't even know if Minato would make it in time either, but as he couldn't split his attention to watch, he could only hope so.

Knowing what was needed to get Kakashi out of the way in time, Naruto felt for the Kyuubi's chakra still within him and pulled upon it, filtering it through his own will courtesy of the seal that was still present. His body lit up with a bright flash of yellow, and he immediately shot off faster than any watching eye could follow, becoming nothing more than a yellow blur.

He was upon Kakashi in a second, scooping the young boy up in his arms and moving away in another, slightly slower flash. Naruto immediately dropped the technique as soon as they settled down behind a tree.

Kakashi was staring at him in shock, only to let out a yelp as the little bit of forest near them suddenly _erupted_. The blond braced himself and shielded Kakashi as best he could from all of the debris that the blast kicked up, pummeling his back and arms as he hovered over the other shinobi.

When it all ended, he let out a grunt as he started climbing to his feet. Kakashi looked to still be in shock from what had just happened, so he grabbed the boy's shoulders and shook him slightly to try and gain his attention. He did focus on the blond, if barely.

**"**I need to go place the seal on Yagura. I'll either be right back or send one of the others after you. Do you understand?"

Kakashi nodded his head somewhat absently, Naruto just hoped he was coherent enough to understand him. Not wasting anymore time, the blond moved swiftly through what remained of the nearby trees, maneuvering around them so that he could hopefully come up behind Yagura.

The Jinchuuriki was still sending out a ton of chakra, so it was impossible not to know his location. Once he got close enough, he spotted Yagura in what Killer Bee had called 'version two', in which the bijuu's chakra became closer to a second skin and not just a cloak. Yagura was currently sitting in the middle of the clearing, as if inspecting his handiwork, and looking around absently while growling.

Realizing it was now or never, Naruto shot out from the nearest tree, running up behind the jinchuuriki. It didn't notice his footsteps until he was almost upon him, and tried to bring its tails around to swipe at him. Naruto managed to dodge the first two, but the third one clipped his leg and nearly sent him tumbling. The pain was immense, but it wasn't anything he wasn't already used to.

Clearing his mind and trying to focus, Yagura roared right in his face, pulling his arm back to likely take a swipe at him, which helped to wake him up a bit more. His body felt like it was on autopilot, and he quickly sprung forward with his good leg, then reached up with his hand just fast enough to slap the seal he had made onto Yagura's forehead.

The effects were nearly instantaneous, the jinchuuriki began to groan as his arm dropped back to his side and then the chakra gradually began to recede. In moments the vile chakra had completely disappeared, and a very much aware Yagura was left sitting there, wide-eyed and panting.

**"**W-What did you do to me? My mind... it's clear again!"

Naruto grunted, pulling a length of gauze out of one of his pouches and lifted up his pant leg, wincing at what he saw. The tail that hit him pierced him clean through, leaving a clean hole through his calf that was easily several centimeters in diameter. He could literally see the muscles and skin in his leg slowly knitting itself back together, both thanks to his heritage and the Kyuubi's chakra.

He wrapped the gauze around his calf as he responded, "I know a thing or three about seals. I placed one on you that suppressed your bijuu. Apparently your bijuu controls you, and someone else is controlling your bijuu."

**"**I see... I feel tired."

**"**Because the bijuu's chakra is being suppressed in your system, when it normally travels through it freely. The closest example is that it's a mild form of chakra exhaustion. The seal's power will drain eventually, and you will return to normal."

Yagura nodded, his eyes obviously drooping as he tried to stay awake. "Thank you... even if this moment is fleeting."

**"**You're welcome. Do what you can to fight the impulses. I have a feeling that if you don't, I'll probably never see you again. Not alive, at least."

**"**How do you... know so... " Naruto knew what he was going to ask, but apparently the young boy could not keep himself awake any longer, and promptly fell over on his back, snoring. It was right at that moment that his team came running over.

**"**Naruto!"

He looked to his side, to see Kakashi and Taichi running up to him, while Minato was moving at a slower pace, holding Mikoto's arm and trying to keep her steady. The two of them looked a little worse for wear, so they might not have made it completely out of the blast radius in time.

**"**Hey guys. Is everyone okay?"

They all murmured their affirmatives – even Kakashi. Most of them were staring at his gauze-wrapped leg, as if wondering just how bad that wound was.

**"**Are you going to be able to travel? I saw that tail punch a hole in your leg." Minato winced as he nodded his head towards Naruto's leg, but the other blond shrugged it off.

**"**I'll be good to go in about an hour or so. Uzumaki have slightly advanced healing factors, as you may know."

Minato's eyebrows raised up. "Really? I didn't know it was a clan trait, I just thought it was something random for Kushina."

Naruto gave the other man a 'do you _really _think that?' look, to which Minato pressed his lips into a straight line and shook his head. Hopefully the other blond knew a thing or two about Kyuubi being quite the boost to the natural Uzumaki toughness. Heck, hopefully he just knew about the Kyuubi in general, by now. Judging by Naruto's comment and Minato's response, he probably did.

With a grunt, Naruto pushed himself to his feet, "We should get moving as fast as we can. We'll leave Yagura here, he'll wake up in fifteen minutes or so. I don't know what state of mind he'll be in either, but I'd rather not be around to find out."

**"**Are you sure? Could we take him with us to-" Taichi began to ask what Naruto felt would be something obvious, but Minato cut him off before Naruto could say anything.

**"**No, not a good idea. He's a jinchuuriki, and Kiri will go to war with us for killing or capturing him. We don't want to start the war early. We're not ready. Besides that, I don't know how strong the genjutsu on him is... it might be too risky to break." He did know that it was strong enough to be held by Tobi for years, and if he could break it, he didn't want to come under even more scrutiny. Trying to lure away bloodline clans was enough.

Naruto nodded in agreement, and that seemed to seal the deal for the rest of the team as no one commented further. Taichi and Kakashi both moved over to Naruto, each one moving one of the blond's arms across their shoulders. The weight distribution was slightly awkward since the Akimichi was taller than he was, while Kakashi was a bit shorter, though he appreciated the gesture all the same. It wasn't really necessary, but he didn't want to turn away what was likely a symbol of trust and goodwill from his 'team'.

Now... he just had to think about how to explain his abilities to them and to the Hokage when he reported in. Hopefully Kakashi was the only one who saw his golden form, otherwise he'd probably be answering a lot more questions than he felt like. Maybe he'd get lucky and convince the kid that he was hallucinating because of the bijuu's chakra.

Yeah, right.

* * *

**A/N:** Not too many flashback chapter starters for those of you that don't seem to like them. I thought people would be interested in what happened during the war to make Naruto want to go back in time, but I guess not everyone feels that way.

Remember that this was the mission that Sakumo would have failed. He and his team came upon Yagura, like Naruto and his team did. It goes to show Sakumo's caliber that he managed to get himself and his team away alive, even if the mission itself was a failure. Unfortunately his teammates and many others didn't see it that way. Naruto, however, had a few tricks up his sleeve without having to give himself away with one, maybe two exceptions.

Sorry that this wasn't much of a 'fight' scene, but it was intented to be rather quick, since drawn-out fights against jinchuuriki aren't a staple, even in canon. It's mainly meant to show that Naruto wants to somehow find a way to keep (a currently very young) Yagura alive. It also explains why this fic isn't in the 'Action' category.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"_You know, you're kinda cute in a pathetic sort of way when you concentrate on those maps."_

_Naruto looked up, only to see Kurotsuchi looking across the table at him. She had taken to some light flirting with him as of late, which was more amusing than anything else. If someone told his father or the now deceased Tschuchikage that their son and granddaughter, respectively, would begin flirting with each other – both men would probably laugh and then declare whoever told them to be insane._

_She was perhaps a year or two older than him, but he had never bothered to ask. These days no one really cared about age anyway. People sure had changed plenty though, and both he and Kurotsuchi were two of those who had._

_It went without saying that he was certainly less cheery and more down to earth, no longer the bastion of sunshine that he once was. Watching your close friends be lost to fighting or to the Red Moon Genjutsu day after day took its toll, and had been for nearly two years since the Fourth Great Shinobi War began. It had been over a year since he had lost two of the people closest to him, Tsunade and Sakura. The only other person alive that he was even somewhat close to on a personal level was Kakashi, but the times they actually got to sit down and talk were few and far between._

_He didn't really know Kurotsuchi well until five or six months ago, when he stumbled across her when she was crying over the death of her father, a skilled man who had been one of their Generals. At first she completely recoiled at any attempt he made of soothing her pain, not because of who he was but just because it was the way she was; she hated showing weakness._

_Of course he hung around until she was feeling better anyway, just out of principle, and pretty much let himself become a punching bag of sorts so that she could vent her frustrations. He didn't know she appreciated it until a week later, when she returned from one of her assignments and brought him lunch completely out of the blue._

_They gradually started seeing each other more and more, though he didn't know if it was a conscious effort on either of their parts or if it just sort of happened. He wasn't sure who started the flirting between them, but he figured it was probably her since she was definitely a lot more outgoing than he was._

_Somewhere along the line she had convinced him to get one of his ears pierced, to 'accentuate the bad-boy look he had going on sometimes' which she really seemed to like for some reason. Naruto had no idea how exactly he looked like a 'bad boy' other than perhaps a bad case of bed-head and a persistent five o'clock shadow. He had no idea _why_he went along with her crazy idea either, but did it anyway because there wasn't really a reason not to. _

_Along the same vein, he had made an off-handed comment at some point that he had a thing for longer hair. That was probably about two months ago, and she hadn't cut her hair since. When they first met she kept it quite short, and now it was reaching down to just a little above her shoulders, kept in a short ponytail. He had to admit to himself that it definitely looked good. When he asked her about it the first time, she just winked at him and didn't explain, though her action was enough of an explanation._

_Looking up from the maps, he shot her a small grin, "Cute enough that you like what you see, then?"_

_That seemed to set of some sort of spark, as her eyes lit up, "Definitely. In fact, once I get back from this latest job Darui wants me to do, I'm thinking I'd show you just how much."_

_Naruto found himself chuckling instead of blushing. Normally something like this would have made him stutter and blush red like a tomato, but having been flirting and joking with her for a little while now... it felt natural. This wasn't the first time she had tossed some innuendo his way, but it would be the first time he planned on actually responding to it._

"_Sure. If you behave, maybe I'll let you examine what's underneath the uniform."_

_She actually blushed a little, then licked her lips and gave him a mocking salute. "Is that an order, Uzumaki-sama?"_

"_Do you want me to make it one?"_

"_Mhm." She nodded slowly as her hand dropped to her hip. "I'll hurry back, I promise."_

_Naruto rose to his feet, walking around the table towards her. Her eyes went wide for a moment before they narrowed and she grinned as he walked up in front of her. Without saying another word, he cupped her chin in his hands and kissed her gently on the lips, letting them linger for a moment. When he pulled away, her face moved forward slightly, as if she didn't want him to stop. However, his hand was still on her chin and kept her from moving her lips back onto his._

"_Kurotsuchi."_

"_Hmm?" Her question came out as more of a sensual hum rather than a coherent word, as she looked up at him with half-lidded eyes._

"_Be safe. Don't get distracted thinking about this, or me. Do what you have to do and come back."_

_That snapped her from her slight daze, and she tossed him a cheshire grin before turning around and walking for the tent exit, obviously swaying her hips. "Who do you think I am? I can handle it. I'll be back in no time at all."_

_Naruto let out a sigh and a short laugh as she moved through the tent flap, leaving him alone once again. Shaking his head, he grinned as he looked over the maps and the recent scouting reports. He never thought he'd get together with Kurotsuchi of all people. She'd lasted this long, and he knew she was strong enough to be there with him until the end. It was strange how the war had made them odd bedfellows. He never thought he'd be interested in anyone again after losing Sakura so suddenly last year._

_Unfortunately he didn't know then that he would never see Kurotsuchi again._

* * *

"Come in."

Naruto grabbed the handle and opened the door to the Hokage's office, quickly moving through and closing the door behind him. When he finally looked towards the Hokage, he stopped short, surprised to see who was standing in the room with him.

Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade were all standing at attention, though giving him rather impassive looks. After a few seconds of staring between them, Naruto managed to find his voice.

"Sorry, I just got back and – never mind, I can always report in later, Hokage-sama."

The Sandaime waved him off. "Nonsense. I'm most curious to hear about your mission. I think my students would also be more likely to believe what I'm trying to explain to them if they heard about your capabilities directly from you."

Naruto nodded and moved forward, consciously trying to avoid getting too close to the snake summoner. He had no idea if the man noticed, and didn't care either. The less he had to deal with the man now, the better. While Orochimaru wasn't the same man he was in the future – yet – he didn't know how far the man had already fallen. The few labs they had found so far could only attest that he ran experiments, but so far none of them were on people.

"I'd like to say the mission was a complete success. We had a little run in with the Mist's Jinchuuriki, however, so I'm not so sure if anything will come from that."

Sarutobi's eyes narrowed, and all of the Sannin tensed. "Explain."

Naruto nodded again, "As I was returning to our camp from meeting with the Yuki clan, I sensed some pretty large chakra signatures, including one that felt like a bijuu. I got to the camp as fast as I could, only to arrive in the middle of what seemed to be some sort of verbal diplomatic spar between Minato and Yagura, Mist's newest jinchuuriki."

As the blond went on to explain the rest of the encounter, including how he had talked the young jinchuuriki into leaving them alone as well as their encounter later, various expressions passed over the Sandaime's face, and some interesting gasps and grumbles came from the direction of the Sannin. It wasn't until the very end when he explained how he stopped a jinchuuriki that Jiraiya finally felt he had to talk.

"You mean to tell me you stopped a Jinchuuriki with a suppression seal you wrote while _on the battlefield_? I realize I'm not a sealing expert, but I'd like to think I'm a fair hand at it. I don't think I've ever even heard of that before."

Naruto shrugged, and tried to keep a straight face. Jiraiya was the one who used to use the seal on him in the future, after all. "I'm no expert with seals, but this one should seem fairly obvious. It just takes a decent amount of chakra and concentration to prepare. I can show you how to make one, if you'd like."

Jiraiya's face twitched for the briefest of moments before he grinned slightly. "Sure, thanks. What about you, Orochimaru? This sort of thing sounds right up your alley."

The snake summoner shook his head negatively. "I prefer ninjutsu. Seals aren't my style."

Naruto had to bite his tongue to keep from making any scathing comments, and was glad he did when the Hokage looked at him again. "How did your main objective turn out, and what is the status of your team?"

"My team is fine, no injuries to report. My left calf was speared by one of the Sanbi Jinchuuriki's tails, but I have no trouble walking anymore so I'm pretty sure it's healed by-"

"What!"

Naruto stopped speaking, cut off suddenly by Tsunade, who was simply staring at him incredulously. "You were speared by a bijuu's chakra and you aren't suffering from chakra poisioning? How?"

Naruto opened his mouth and closed it a few times, wondering how much to say. So he settled for "I'm sturdy?"

That didn't go over very well, as Tsunade literally threw him into a nearby chair and proceeded to unwrap the bloody bandage around his calf. He thought he heard a chuckle from Jiraiya, but it was quickly overshadowed by the gasp from Tsunade.

"How? I don't even see a scar!" Her hand was glowing a light green as she inspected his calf.

"I'm an Uzumaki. Longevity and enhanced healing is our blood limit of sorts, you know."

Tsunade looked at him sharply, and then at the Hokage, who slowly nodded. "Even if you are an Uzumaki, the only one I know of who heals that fast is a... result of special circumstances. I don't see how it's possible for you to not be affected by the chakra at all."

Naruto couldn't do anything more than look innocent and shrug again. "I don't know. It's been like this for as long as I can remember." Of course he knew why his abilities in that area were enhanced, still having bijuu chakra in him now made him relatively immune. He was honestly surprised Tsunade didn't pick up on it, but then she was probably only doing a surface scan of his chakra and not the kind of stuff they did in the hospital. He considered sharing the secret for a moment before siding against it. The blond was still being very careful about what he said in front of anyone else other than the Hokage, for now.

Tsunade seemed to take his comments at face value at least, though she didn't look too happy about it. She gave him a critical eye as she rose to her feet, offering him a hand to help him stand as well. He took a moment to really look at her now, and noticed that she was older looking than he remembered, but her grip was just as strong. She apparently hadn't taken to permanently rejuvenating herself yet, as there were small lines on her face around her lips, and crows feet in the corners of her eyes. Unlike the youth she tried to emulate in his time, right now she radiated a sort of mature beauty that he could easily appreciate.

Other than that she looked mostly the same from what he remembered. It took all his willpower not to engulf her in a hug, but a quick mental check reminded him that she likely wouldn't appreciate it right now.

He thought he was looking discretely, but he forgot who he was dealing with. He saw her eyes narrow, and he quickly murmured his thanks and looked away, back towards the Hokage. If she was going to say anything she decided not to, and moved back over to her teammates.

"Sensei, if you don't need us any longer, I have some research to do, and I'm certain that Tsunade would like to visit Shizune. Not to mention that I would bet Jiraiya-kun has some _research _to do."

Naruto was honestly surprised by the tone of voice Orochimaru used, he actually sounded amused when he mentioned Jiraiya's research. Was this what a normal Orochimaru was like before he went crazy?

"Very well. I need to finish up with Naruto too, and then get back to my own work. Dismissed."

His three students all nodded, and then Jiraiya and Orochimaru offered him nods as well before they turned and walked for the door. Tsunade simply stared at him for a moment before her lips formed a tight smile and she shook her head, following her teammates.

Once the door closed behind them, Naruto once again turned to face the Hokage, and continued with his report, "I only got confirmation from the Kaguya clan that they would come join, and I promised them that baa-chan would take a look at their blood to see if she could find out what the disease was that was killing them."

Hiruzen leaned back in his seat, "The Kaguya? So they went for it. Interesting. I've heard that they are a rather... bloodthirsty clan, however."

"That's only partially true. I had to fight one of their members because they didn't believe me at first, but after they were willing to listen we discussed things normally. I think whatever the disease in their blood is also makes them act somewhat irrationally, if only because they're frustrated with their looming death."

Sarutobi rubbed at the stubble on his chin. "Very well. But you will be the one to inform Tsunade about what needs to be done. When will they be here?"

"Soon. Likely within the month."

"Alright. What about any other clans?"

"I didn't get any promises out of them, other than that they'd think about it. Once word gets out about where the Kaguya have gone though, some others may follow. The civil war there is still in it's infancy and many of the bloodline clans have fled from the village itself to their old clan grounds, so the non-bloodline faction will have a hard time keeping them all in Water Country should they try to leave."

Hiruzen nodded slowly, propping his elbows on his desk and pressing his fingertips together. "I guess I'll have to prepare some of our empty districts for any new arrivals. If we get a lot, we may need to modify the walls. "

Naruto's eyes went wide, he had never even considered the space issue. They may start needing to build homes outside the walls...

His thoughts were quickly interrupted by a chuckle from the Hokage, "Well, at least things will be getting interesting, it seems. Other than the skirmishes we've been watching, things have been fairly slow as of late. Normally I wouldn't care, but it seems the paperwork load has been increasing too."

It was Naruto's turn to grin and chuckle, but Sarutobi just smiled and shook his head. "If that's all, you're dismissed. Oh – and I know you're from the future, but I wouldn't suggest calling Tsunade 'baa-chan' to her face if you want to keep your head on your shoulders."

The blond gulped and nodded as he turned towards the door, "I also need to talk to you some more about Orochimaru."

The Hokage frowned slightly. "Yes, I remember. Stop by tomorrow, we'll discuss him then."

* * *

Mikoto sighed deeply as she let her head rest back against the stone behind her in the hot spring. The warm water worked wonders when it came to relieving stress, and that was something she had plenty of lately. It had been a while since she actually had some free time, both from doing missions and from clan responsibilities, so she was going to make the most of it and the hot spring was her first stop.

Luckily it was actually rather quiet here today, unlike the last few times she had been. There were only four other women in the area, and they must have all arrived together since they were chatting amongst themselves near one of the corners. She had her back to the stone she was leaning against, which was near the outside wall just in case sensei was in town. She had never been a victim, but she had heard the stories.

There was another small splash near the entrance, and Mikoto looked over to see Kushina finally enter the area. She had dragged the younger woman along with her, first and foremost because she was her best friend, but also because she just knew the redhead likely had tons of questions about their mission.

Minato had been busy since they got back yesterday trying to work on some kind of technique that he had been testing little by little over the past year or so. Apparently during their mission he came across something that he believed would further help him with the technique. She honestly had no idea what it was he was working on – Kushina may have a better idea, but even she often just shook her head and shrugged whenever she was asked.

"Mikotoooo, why are you all the way over there?" Kushina began to groan as she pushed her way through the warm water, a white towel wrapped around her torso. Mikoto noticed as the other women stopped talking to look over then quickly went back to gossip as they noticed the 'Bloody Habanero'.

"I usually come over here so my back is to the outside wall. Just in case sensei is in town."

Kushina made an 'oh' face, then nodded and scooted over next to Mikoto so their arms barely touched, settling with her back to the rock as well. "So..."

The older woman tilted her head slightly and raised an eyebrow as she waited for Kushina to continue. When she didn't, she continued the question, "So... what?"

The redhead giggled, then looked at her friend with a grin. "You already know what I want to know. How was the mission? I can't get anything out of Minato-kun, he's so focused on his new jutsu again."

Mikoto slowly shrugged, resting her head back against the large stone once again. "For the first few days it was incredibly boring. Just sitting in camp doing nothing. On the last day, the Mist's newest jinchuuriki showed up with an escort. He looked like a little kid, but he had so much power..."

Kushina gasped, wide-eyed, "Isn't he one of the faction leaders of the 'Bloody Mist'? He's the one that started the civil war going on there, right? Is he really that young?"

The raven-haired woman shrugged. "I don't know the details, but from what I heard while there that sounds about right. He didn't seem to believe us when we said we were there on a diplomatic mission of sorts, but finally did when Naruto-san arrived and managed to convince him."

Kushina's eyes lit up a bit at the mention of Naruto, she had likely been waiting to hear information about her 'relative'. "How did Naruto-aniki do?"

Mikoto leaned her head back against the rock and sighed as she closed her eyes, letting out a bitter chuckle. "He saved our lives."

There was silence for a moment before Kushina caught Mikoto's arm in a death grip, "What? You and the others almost died?"

Mikoto winced at the grip on her arm, but tried not to pay it too much mind. The redhead always did tend to be a clingy person when those she cared about were threatened, probably as a result of losing her clan in Uzushio.

"The jinchuuriki... Yagura, apparently changed his mind and chased us down not too long after we left. Naruto-san asked us to keep him distracted while he drew up a seal. Just as he was about to use the seal he had made, the boy launched a huge attack at us, and I wasn't able to get out of the way in time. At least not without Minato's help." Mikoto let her head hang forward slightly, her loose, damp hair hiding most of the expression on her face, "Naruto-san somehow managed to shout a warning in time. I wasn't really paying attention after hearing that as I tried to get away, but when Minato grabbed me I was at a good angle to see Naruto-san. He was near Kakashi-kun and looked to be glowing, though I was moving to quickly to really notice. However one second I thought he was there, and the next both he and Kakashi-kun were gone."

She let out a sigh as she finished. "I didn't think about it too much before now. Minato and I got caught in the edge of the blast from Yagura's attack, and we were more worried about getting home without any further attacks against us. I was probably just seeing things."

Kushina had started going pale the moment Mikoto made mention of the jinchuuriki. It wasn't every day they were discussed, let alone encountered or even fought. Mikoto knew about Kushina and the Kyuubi, as did the rest of her team because Kushina told them. There were a few others that she believed knew about the Kyuubi as well, but it wasn't something that anyone really talked about. The large majority of Konoha was likely completely oblivious that the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki was even in Konoha.

Mikoto continued, "Anyway - after saving us, he went back to place a seal on Yagura. He got injured when he did it, but the seal worked, and the bijuu's chakra went away, leaving only the boy there. Yagura passed out shortly after, and Naruto-san wrapped up his leg before we left. That's it."

"Naruto-aniki... he fought a jinchuuriki and won? Is he okay?"

Mikoto nodded, and let out another sigh. "He made it back to Konoha with us and wasn't slowed down at all." Naruto had saved them all, _and _battled and won against another who was both a jinchuuriki and rumored to be the leader of the anti-bloodline faction. Who knew how strong he was. Heck, even if that's as strong as he really was, he could probably beat a lot of people. Even when injured he didn't complain once when Minato requested they set a grueling pace to return to Konoha.

She absently began to wonder who would be stronger, Naruto or her fiance, Fugaku...

"Mikoto... do you think I should tell him?"

"Tell what?"

Kushina gave Mikoto an exasperated look. "Tell Naruto-aniki that I'm the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. Just in case," she explained.

Mikoto stared at her best friend for a second before offering her best friend a rather somber grin. "Naruto-san doesn't really strike me as the kind of person who would care if you are or aren't. He seemed to know that Yagura was a jinchuuriki, and at first managed to keep him from attacking us just by talking to him. Besides, if he knew that the Mist had one, maybe the Hokage already told him you are."

"Maybe you're right. That means-"

"Hey, what are you doing Ero-sennin?"

A voice that both women recognized was clear enough to make it over the fence, causing both of them too go rigid and look at each other in shock.

"Ero-sennin? I'm not a- oh, hey... Naruto, right? Be quiet, or you'll alert the lovely ladies on the far side of the bath."

Both girls visibly relaxed, realizing that there were fully hidden behind the rock and couldn't be seen.

"Doing the research I heard about, I take it?"

"Yeah. What of it, did you want some pointers?"

"No thanks. I was just making sure that Kushina-chan and Mikoto-san weren't in there."

"I know better than to peep on those two." There was a brief period of cackling laughter from the other side of the fence before Jiraiya continued, "Buuuut... you got a thing for both of them, eh?"

Both girls were still staring at each other slack-jawed now as they continued listening to the barely audible conversation.

"Errr... not really, no. Yes, they are both beautiful women, but they are both spoken for and I know better."

Kushina immediately blushed crimson, hiding her face behind her hands. Mikoto, on the other hand, was completely rigid in total shock. She had been called pretty and attractive before, but she got the feeling it was more out of obligation than anything else. But not even Fugaku had ever called her _beautiful_. Sure, it was only a word... but it was a rare one for her to hear, and it was never applied to her. She realized that the standard Konoha jonin attire wasn't exactly the most flattering clothing, and it is probably what kept other people from being more interested in her.

Besides the fact that she was the Uchiha heir. Apparently it involuntarily made her rather intimidating, or so she'd heard from the few other friends she had.

"Well aren't you charming. A 'look but don't touch' mindset, I see."

"I probably shouldn't even be looking. Even that makes me feel guilty as hell. Especially because Kushina-chan looks up to me like a brother."

By this time Kushina had completely sunk into the water almost up to her ears. Mikoto, meanwhile, was straining hers to pick up every word.

"I know where you're coming from, Naruto." Both ladies could hear a loud sigh of exasperation from the other side. "I know better than to peep on Kushina, because I value my manhood too much. Mikoto was on my genin team with Minato and Taichi, so that would just be wrong on so many levels if I peeped on her."

Both women held their breath as they waited for the response, which wasn't long in coming.

"Good. I was just making sure. Anyway, I have to go find baa-chan on Hokage-sama's orders, so just don't stick around long enough to get caught, Ero-sennin."

"Baa-chan? And hey, I told you I'm not- oh whatever. Leave me alone."

"Right. See you."

Mikoto still couldn't believe the conversation she had just overheard. Kushina was still as red as could be, and was obviously trying to compose herself. She was visibly startled when Mikoto made a move to stand up.

"Mikoto-nee?"

The raven-haired woman tossed her friend a vicious grin. "You can stay here, I think I should go have a nice chat with sensei about his habits."

As Mikoto moved away from behind the rock, they all heard a loud yelp followed by a string of curses come from behind the wall, including the four other women who were in the other corner of the springs. The noise caused Kushina to smile, and she clenched her own towel around herself.

"Wait up, I think I'll join you in your talk with _Ero-sennin._"

Already a few rooftops away, Naruto suddenly felt like bursting into laughter.

* * *

**A/N**: Been pretty busy car-shopping lately. Financing is such a pain. Anyway, other than another chapter of Rewritten being posted, the next thing I'm due to post will be another Experiments in Empathy mega-chapter. If I get some free time, it may be up before next Tuesday. Keep your fingers crossed.

This is also the last of the 'short' chapters, at 9 pages. The next chapter is 10, and they get bigger from there. The actual relationship starts being built in the next chapter as well, so perhaps that's something to look forward to.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

_Naruto grunted in pain as he fell to his knees on the ground, clutching at his arms. It was always a pain fighting anyone with a sword, and it was even worse when fighting those who were under control of the genjutsu._

_They had believed destruction of the Gedo Mazo would stop Tobi's plan once and for all, but it seemed that the man had some sort of backup plan. He had pulled the bijuu out of the crumbling statue and had sealed them within obelisk-type structures scattered among the Elemental Nations._

_Then he had cast the genjutsu he had talked about at the Kage Summit long ago, but obviously he could not complete his plan without the Kyuubi. The moon turned a reddish color in the sky, but otherwise did not change._

_It was then that they started getting reports of people fighting like they were possessed... because they literally were. They felt no pain and would continue fighting until they were beheaded, sealed away, or there was nothing of them left. They had no emotions stopping them, and they didn't have to follow the normal rules of those still aware because they didn't need sleep or have typical human needs._

_They weren't entirely zombies either, because they could still talk, though it was as if they were in a dream, talking to people who weren't really there about typical day to day things even though they were in the middle of combat. Tobi had them in a genjutsu, nothing more._

_They had yet to break anyone out of it either, through chakra disruption or any other means. It didn't take long to discover that those with weak minds and wills would fall under the sway of the red moon easily, and even the strongest will could succumb if they were feeling enough sadness or despair. It was for that reason they lost nearly one third of their forces within the first month of the moon turning red._

_There were likely still a lot of sad and despairing people in Kiri in the aftermath of the civil war there, because they had gotten word that the village was in another kind of civil war and was being destroyed from within. Mei, the Mizukage had gone back to try to find out what was going on. She took some of her original forces back with her to quell whatever it might have been._

_Naruto didn't have high hopes that the situation would be resolved, considering the way things were going since the genjutsu started. __Iwa and Suna had been the first two villages to fall, and they did almost simultaneously. In the following months they lost Kumo and Taki villages, and Ame just fell last week. Tobi's hive-minded forces were still growing, and stamping out the villages one by one. With Kiri likely being another loss, Konoha was the only village of the Great Five left. The blond knew, deep down, that Konoha wouldn't last long alone._

"_Naruto, let me see your arm."_

_The blond let out a grunt as his arm was pulled away from his body and other hand that was clutching it. The bleeding had stopped, but the arm itself still hurt like crazy. He turned his head to give Sakura a pained smile. She had apparently come over to him while he was thinking about their situation._

"_Thanks, Sakura-chan."_

"_Baka." Her voice was light as her hands began to glow green, probably checking to see how bad the damage to his arm was._

"_How is everyone?"_

_She sighed, but her attention never wavered from his arm. _"_We got off lucky this time. We only lost three people."_

_Naruto let his head hang as he sighed. Only three people was still three too many._

"_Naruto, I'm going to put you into a forced sleep. You're the only one who hasn't slept enough, and we need to move back to Konoha. You should be fresh when you arrive."_

_He nodded, "Do it."_

_Sakura's glowing hand moved up and two of her fingers rested on his temple for a second before his eyes began to droop._

"_Sweet dreams," he heard her mumble before he lost consciousness. Sadly, he didn't think he'd have any dreams at all. He usually only got nightmares._

* * *

Naruto was woken from his slumber by a loud knocking on the door to his apartment. He had rented the place after making enough money from his missions over the last two months that he had been in the past. Things had been moving at a decent pace, though the war still hadn't happened yet.

Trying to wake himself up as he scrambled for the door, there was yet another knock. He tried to shout that he was coming, but his mouth wasn't working properly yet and all that came out was a strangled noise before he coughed.

The blond opened the door to see a member of the Hokage's ANBU forces standing there. A woman, from her stature and build, with shoulder-length auburn hair. Her mask looked like it was supposed to resemble some sort of bird, but his mind was still in sleep-mode so he didn't even bother trying to identify it. He had managed to recognize quite a few ANBU in the time he had been back, but this wasn't one that he could claim to remember.

"Uzumaki-sama, Hokage-sama requests your presence at your earliest convenience."

Naruto covered his mouth, hiding a yawn before he nodded and gestured back into his apartment. "Alright. Tell him I'll be there as soon as I get dressed and grab something to drink."

"Hai." The moment the word left the ANBU's mouth, she vanished in a shunshin.

As Naruto closed his door and returned to his room, he tried wrapping his head around being called 'Uzumaki-sama', as anyone giving him that kind of respect was still new. He didn't try to dissuade it, but he didn't encourage it either. Even during his time in the future as the leader of the army, most people still just called him 'Naruto', because it was what he preferred. Most people he had fought beside and bled with on the battlefield, or they knew him as he grew up, or they had just simply earned the right. He wasn't one to bother with titles.

Here, however, he was a bit of an outsider. Even after two months there were some who were skeptical of his claims of working exclusively for Sarutobi, but his new 'public' mission record didn't lie. With already four successful S-Ranked and sixteen A-Ranked missions under his belt, no one doubted his ability to get the job done. They just weren't comfortable with his random appearance.

He didn't blame them, of course. Sarutobi's old teammates didn't trust him one bit either, until the two of them agreed that it would be best if those two knew Naruto was from the future. At first the blond was skeptical about letting anyone else know, but then he remembered that Shimura Danzo already knew, and if he didn't trust anyone in Konoha, Danzo was always high on the list.

However the Danzo in the present had not fully become the Danzo that he heard the warnings about in the future yet. Most of that reason was probably because the man was still the current ANBU Commander and ROOT hadn't been formed yet – at least to the best of his knowledge. Once the two advisers, Homura and Koharu, learned of Naruto's status, they inquired about telling the Sannin who he really was. Originally they felt that the Densetsu no Sannin were both trustworthy and skilled enough to be brought in the loop. Opinion quickly changed, however, when Naruto told Hiruzen a few more things about Orochimaru. As a result, the Hokage felt it would be best if any explanations were taken care of after they confronted his troublesome student, and not before.

Naruto looked into his refrigerator and grabbed some juice, quickly chugging it down as he mentally prepared himself for whatever the Hokage could want. It probably had something to do with the new arrivals in Konoha, as had been the reason for most of his other summons over the last couple weeks.

As the blond left his apartment, he cast a glance over towards the southern wall, where some new buildings could barely be made out. He had been named as a sort of envoy for new arrivals into Konoha, as his mission to Water Country had been a smashing success beyond everyone's expectations.

The Kaguya clan had been the first to arrive, as he knew they would be. It had only taken a week for the first members of the clan to arrive, and the Hokage had immediately started moving them into some of the newly renovated areas of Konoha. Much to everyone's surprise, however, other clans started streaming in faster than anyone expected. Since Naruto actually went and met with various clans, the news spread like wildfire.

The Kaguya and Yuki clans had come, as well as the Terumi clan, which completely flabbergasted Naruto because he hadn't even talked with them. Apparently their clan had close ties with the Yuki, because both of them arrived at right around the same time. In total so far, eight clans arrived in Konoha that used to call Kiri their home. While it might seem like a lot, Naruto knew that those clans membership numbers, even when all added together, were still smaller than the total number of members in the entire Uchiha clan.

Still, several impressive bloodlines decided to call Konoha home now, and as a result he had achieved nearly worship status with those who knew of his mission. Namely the Hokage, his advisers, and many members of ANBU.

Now his long term mission assignment was to find ways to keep the new arrivals happy and assist them in getting settled. So far the Kaguya clan was ecstatic since he had already kept his promise to them. Tsunade was more than happy to take a look at their bloodline to find out what the problem was, because she saw it as her newest challenge to overcome. Even a young Shizune seemed excited at the prospect.

While he was proud of his accomplishment, another part of him was worried. As he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, he couldn't help but wonder, 'Have I already changed too much to predict what will happen in the future?'

"Ah, Naruto, thank you for coming on such short notice. I apologize for waking you, I know you were busy until late last night."

While Naruto normally would have tossed a joke about what he was doing late last night, there were another two people in the room that he didn't know, nipping that idea in the bud. One of them was an older, probably middle-aged man with a rather severe look to him. His hair was a brownish-red and was left hanging free to about shoulder level. The man gave Naruto a brief nod, to which the blond returned, before he turned back to look at the other person with him.

She was a younger girl, perhaps in her mid to late teens. Her hair was the same color as the man, meaning it was likely that they were related. Like her apparent relative, she also nodded at Naruto, but gave him a rather bright smile as well. She was gorgeous, and Naruto found himself trying not to blush.

Hearing the Sandaime's voice caused Naruto to focus on the older man once again, "Naruto-kun, this is Kozo of the Terumi Clan, along with his daughter, Mei. They are the latest arrival, and perhaps among the most powerful of all the clans that have arrived from Kiri. I need you to go around and gather the builders again. The rest of their clan will be arriving throughout the month, so we need to be prepared."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"Thank you. I have to talk to you about some other things as well, so please remain here for a moment. Kozo-san, is there anything else you will be needing?"

The other man shook his head and bent forward in a polite bow. "All of our immediate needs have been seen to. You have been most gracious. You have our entire clan's gratitude, Hokage-sama."

"Very well. If anything else arises, either visit me or Naruto-kun there, he is acting as the main coordinator for the clans that are arriving from Kiri."

"I see. Thank you." As Kozo turned to walk towards the door, he offered Naruto another nod. Mei walked in the shadow of her relative, so he didn't see or hear anything further from her. The blond closed his eyes and let his head lean forward slightly as he listened to their footsteps. It wasn't until the door to the Hokage's office opened and closed again that he opened his eyes and looked up at the Hokage once more.

"Was there something about the Terumi clan, Naruto-kun? You looked shocked when you heard their clan name."

"I never visited their clan, first of all, because of what I knew from the future. I already knew as soon as the Kaguya clan agreed to come that the future would change, but now with the Terumi clan..." Naruto began to explain, before his voice trailed off.

"But why would the Terumi clan make things so different?"

The blond let out a sigh, "The girl who was here, Terumi Mei. She became the Godaime Mizukage, though I don't know when. If I had to guess, it was probably sometime shortly after I became a teenager in my time, because it wasn't until then that we realized the Yondaime Mizukage was dead and the Sanbi was roaming free."

Sarutobi rubbed his chin as he leaned back in his chair. "So the Yondaime Mizukage remains in power for a while, then?"

"I guess so. I'm trying to put it together myself," Naruto shrugged. "I know that Yagura is nothing more than a puppet for Tobi, and if the Nidaime Mizukage passed away at the end of the second war, that means Tobi is technically the Sandaime right now, though he won't be in the public eye for very long. My theory is that he has begun controlling Yagura before he steps down, and either he did it himself or he forced Yagura to incite the current civil war. Now, however, Tobi attempts to remain in the shadows while Yagura becomes more visible. In the next few years he will likely fake his death and have Yagura take up the Yondaime spot."

The blond turned his gaze to look outside before he continued, "Mei probably kills Yagura at some point, ending the civil war and becoming the Godaime Mizukage. As to how she defeats one of my kind... well... she has two bloodlines, and an affinity for three elements."

"Yes, Kozo mentioned that. Normally the Terumi clan only has one bloodline, but somehow Mei ended up with a third affinity and has two bloodline limits. She's only a novice with their abilities, from what he says. I'm not surprised, as someone with a newer bloodline would have to create their own new techniques anyway." Sarutobi spoke quietly, but his eyes betrayed his excitement of having someone in the village having a strong affinity for three elements.

"The only two I ever saw her use regularly were a lava attack, and another one that released a corrosive mist. That's probably all she really ever needed to use, now that I think about it."

Hiruzen nodded, then waved at Naruto. "I don't want to keep them waiting too long, you're dismissed. When you're done we can talk more about this and what it means for the future."

"Yes sir."

* * *

Mikoto sighed as she pushed herself to sit up from her futon. After her strange - unintentional - eavesdropping session a few days ago at the hot spring, she just hadn't been able sleep well. She saw his face, and the words kept running through her head over and over again.

"_... beautiful girls... both attached... I know better..."_

Even though she was twenty years old, part of her wanted to giggle like a schoolgirl. She had never been called beautiful before, at least not anywhere she was able to hear it said. Kushina always claimed she was jealous of her killer figure, but then again Kushina was really the only one that had ever seen her naked or close to it due to their hot springs visits. Other than that, her uniform was typically the only thing she ever wore, even on her _dates_with Fugaku.

She let out an unladylike grunt as she moved up to her feet, deciding to go sit outside for a little while and enjoy the night air. Grabbing a robe from a nearby chair, she wrapped it around herself and then slid open the door to her room. Slowly padding down the hallway, she stifled a yawn as she headed towards the porch that was nearest her room.

Why was this bugging her so much? It had been a couple days since she saw him last, perhaps it was because she wanted to ask him if he really meant what he said?

The young woman let out another sigh as she sat on one of the porches, leaning her back against the exterior wall of the house. The crisp night air wasn't what she considered cold at all, but it was still chilly enough to be strangely refreshing.

"Something wrong, little one?"

Mikoto began to crack a smile, but suppressed it and instead shot a mock glare at the man who had just walked around the corner and was heading her way.

"I'm not little anymore, father. We've been over this."

Uchiha Kagami chuckled as he walked over to the bench with his slight limp. "You'll always be my little one."

"Hmp. Fine, just don't tell anyone else." Mikoto obediently moved towards the side of the bench, in order to give her father some room. He sat down slowly, keeping his leg stretched outward. He was injured at the end of the second war, a rock had shattered his kneecap. It had been mostly repaired, and even Tsunade-sama had looked at it, claiming he should be happy that he could even still walk under his own power.

"So, what is bothering you? I noticed you have been rather distracted these past few days."

Mikoto pursed her lips, not sure how much she wanted to explain. She was close with her father, or so she thought, but to talk with a man about it felt slightly embarrassing. At times like this, she wished her mother was still alive.

"I'm... having second thoughts about the upcoming marriage."

"Oh?" Mikoto didn't look at her father, but she could tell from the sound of his voice that he had turned to look at her. "You've been engaged for nearly a year now. This is the first I've heard of any doubts. There is only a month until the wedding."

"I know," Mikoto ground out. "Believe me I know. I think about it every day. It's just that recently, some things have come up that have changed my opinions."

"I see. So you've found someone else then?"

Now Mikoto did turn to stare at her father in shock as he chuckled lightly. "How did you...?"

"How did I know? Well you've been talking about a unique young man who appeared out of nowhere a few months ago quite often. I don't even ask about him and usually I'll get a 'Kushina said Naruto did this today.' or a 'You'll never believe what Naruto can do.' when I ask you how your day was."

"How do you always manage to see right through me?" Mikoto muttered.

Kagami couldn't help but chuckle again. "I would say it's another one of my Sharingan abilities, but we both know that's a lie. The simple answer would be that you're my daughter and I make a point to pay attention to what you say and do.

"I could go on extolling your virtues, but instead I'll settle with saying I'm proud of you and trust your judgment. If you want to call off the wedding because you want to pursue other ventures, do it."

Mikoto's face morphed into shock, "But what about the elder council? I thought they were pressuring for you to find me a husband since I was fifteen? If I called this off..."

Kagami held up a hand, and Mikoto's mouth snapped shut. "The elder council is just that, a council of advisers who are past their prime and have nothing better to do than nag me. They can nag me all they want, but my daughter's happiness comes before theirs. If you don't believe you will be happy with Fugaku, then don't marry him. They will have to be mollified with the fact that you found someone else, and not someone that I chose for you. There is no law that says you have to choose someone from within the clan either." Kagami paused for barely a moment, "Though it may help if they agreed to take the Uchiha name, considering your position."

Mikoto had to lift her hand to wipe the tears that were forming in the corners of her eyes. "Thank you... I'll have to think on this some."

Her father chuckled briefly, shaking his head, "There is no need to thank me for something that should be automatic, but you're welcome all the same."

There were several moments of comfortable silence between them, and Mikoto was enjoying listening to the crickets in their enclosed yard before her father spoke again, interrupting the silence.

"So... how is he?"

"W-Wha... father!"

Kagami barked out a few laughs before looking at his daughter. "What? Considering the path our conversation has taken to get to this point, I can't be curious if he makes you happy?"

Mikoto tried to look at her father, but the blush on her face became so intense that she had to look away. His laughter at her expense wasn't helping either. "There is nothing between myself and Uzumaki-san."

"Oh, so _now_he is Uzumaki-san. I see. Normally when you mention him he is just Naruto when we're talking. Tell me, you don't think about him just because of that mission where he saved you and your team, do you?"

"No!" Mikoto had quickly turned around again, though this time it was with a glare. Kagami nodded at her with a passive expression, then turned his own head to look out over the yard.

"Good. Because if it was I'd tell you to find some other reason to like him."

Mikoto nodded, but didn't reply. The silence stretched on again for over a minute before her father spoke up again.

"So?"

"So... what?"

"So what is it about Naruto that you like, which is different from every other man you've ever been around?'

Mikoto looked down at her hands which were in her lap, and let out a small sigh. Before she could say anything, however, her father spoke again.

"I realize I'm not your mother, and this may be uncomfortable for you, but I know from experience that sometimes you just have to say what you're thinking to someone. From what I know of your friend Kushina, she probably does all the talking while you just listen."

"You're right," Mikoto chuckled, her lips curved into a small smile. "Naruto is just a refreshing change from what I'm used to dealing with. For someone with so much apparent power and authority, he doesn't lord it over others and actually acts his age, which is actually just a few months older than me.

"He's mysterious, but will answer any question I've ever asked him as long as it isn't classified. He's kind, but knows when discipline is needed. Minato respects and trusts him, which is unusual because Minato never gives his respect and trust easily. He gets personal briefings from Hokage-sama. He brought over all these clans from Kiri just through diplomacy alone."

She said something else, but it was mumbled and Kagami didn't hear it. "What was that last thing?"

Mikoto began to wring her hands together before she repeated herself, louder this time, "I said... he called me beautiful."

"Well, you are."

The young woman shook her head, but gave her father a smile. "It's different coming from you. I know you'd call me beautiful even if I was incredibly ugly, because I'm your daughter."

"True."

"I figured," Mikoto giggled for a second. "I heard him say it when he was standing up to Jiraiya-sensei, who was peeking in the female side of the onsen again-"

"He was what? I thought you said he promised never to do it when you were in there! When I tell Hiruzen about-"

"Father!" Mikoto set her hand on her father's, calming him down. "To be fair, both myself and Kushina were hidden behind a large rock and couldn't be seen. When we moved out from behind it, he let out a yell and probably passed out, because we saw him on his back when we went to confront him about it. Kushina gave him a good beating, so I don't think sensei will be peeking on any Konoha baths for a while."

Kagami grunted, causing Mikoto to giggle again. "Good. I still can't believe how he gets away with doing that in the first place. Anyway, what does this have to do with Naruto?"

"He was the one who told Jiraiya-sensei to stop peeping, especially because Kushina and myself might be in there. Sensei started to change the subject about how he liked us. Naruto said that we were beautiful, but both attached, so he knew better than to do anything."

"So that's what got all this started?"

Mikoto shook her head. "No, I thought he was interesting the very first time I met him. He was fighting against Minato in a spar, and Minato was testing his new Hiraishin, which no one else can fight against to the best of my knowledge. Only Naruto can right now. I would make a point to watch him from time to time, or ask Minato and Kushina about him. It wasn't until the mission to Kiri and he saved my life that I _really_started to notice. Ever since then... it's just continued growing.

"Now when I meet him I sometimes get lightheaded, or my heart starts beating a little faster," Mikoto moved her hand and placed it on her chest, over her heart. "It's all new to me, because I've never had this happen with anyone else before. Not even Minato, and we've been friends since our genin days."

"Hmm. What is Kushina's opinion of Naruto?"

Mikoto's face immediately soured. "If Minato isn't around she is all over him. It's easy to see she has some sort of crush on him from the way she acts and talks to him. She won't go too far because she still loves Minato, though. She is apparently satisfied with treating him as a big brother figure, at least."

"Does Naruto respond to her?" Kagami inquired.

"Only a little bit. It's like he said when we overheard him, he knows we are attached and won't go too far. He'll return a hug after saying hello or goodbye, but I've seen him try to avoid holding her hand for too long when she's grabbed it. Sometimes I think Kushina is just testing him. I could ask her. If she is, so far I'd say he's passed with flying colors."

Kagami grinned as he looked at his daughter, "I think it says a lot that you're paying attention that carefully to him."

Mikoto knew there was another blush on her face, but she kept looking down and didn't bother trying to hide it. "Okay, okay! I think I like him. I'm definitely interested. How... how long would it take to break off the marriage to Fugaku?"

"If you're serious... well, since it's such short notice it could be a problem. Especially if Fugaku doesn't agree to it. There will be a lot of hassle, and arguing going on. Unless something... extreme... were to happen."

"Extreme?"

Kagami nodded as he stared at his daughter. "Yes. Something that would likely make Fugaku agree to break the contract. I'm sure there are a few things you can think of that would make him no longer want to be your husband. I know I can think of a few things... but it's not my place to say."

Mikoto nodded and looked up towards the sky. Something extreme... something extreme... just how far was she willing to go? Well, she knew, but in order for it to work she'd have to get to know Naruto very well, very quickly.

"If I may offer one bit of advice?"

Mikoto looked over at her father, and gave him a small nod.

"If you plan to do anything about Naruto, do it quickly. I can already see how much sway he has with Hiruzen and the Hokage's council. Bringing as many new clans here as he did has also given him a huge amount of political capital and goodwill. It won't be long before he starts getting offers to marry from other women, with the promises of alliances and power."

"Naruto isn't like that!" Mikoto let out in a fierce whisper. "After talking to him these past months I know he cares nothing for power, and is perfectly content with what he does."

Kagami smiled, "I agree. From what I've seen of him, he is exactly as you say. However that doesn't stop other women from trying. Or who knows, tomorrow he could encounter a random civilian woman that worked a stall in the nearby grocery market and become completely enamored with her in minutes."

Mikoto couldn't stop the sad smile that appeared on her face. "Thinking about mother?"

"Yes. I never heard the end of it from your grandfather. I had a contract, much like your own."

"I didn't know that."

"I never had a reason to tell you. I've always tried to let you do your own thing, which is what your mother wanted, as she didn't agree with the marriage contracts either. That is why I didn't agree to set you up with one until you actually asked me to. I tried to find the man most suitable, but there honestly wasn't much to pick from."

Mikoto nodded, as they had already had this part of the conversation several times before. "Father, how did you get out of your contract?"

She couldn't help the chill that ran up her spine as her father showed her one of the most devious grins she'd ever seen on his face.

"Are you sure you want to know?"

* * *

**A/N:** I wanted to get Experiments out before this, but work is picking up already and I've noticed my free time dwindling. I still make a point to write at least a few sentences a day (minimum) so there will be an update soon-ish. The problem is that the chapter is already 35 pages and still going. .

Review responses...

Tsunade - She knows there is more to Naruto than meets the eye, but probably won't get an opportunity to grill him. She trusts the Hokage, and since Sarutobi trusts Naruto, she'll put up with him no matter how much she knows he's hiding. For now.

Characterizations - Some may be a bit lacking, apologies for that, but I'm actually trying to make this a bit of a 'swift' fic, unlike my others where I get into tons of character depth. For some real deep characterization, Experiments in Empathy is the fic you want to read.

Mikoto - Will definitely not be falling for Naruto immediately. It will take a few chapters. The 'wonderings' have already started, and the bit about Naruto being stronger than Fugaku (while obvious to us) is merely a passing thought for her at the time. The kickstart, in a manner of speaking.

I was honestly surprised to see reviews asking for Naruto/Mikoto/Kushina. Appealing? Maybe. But it's not written that way and I'm not gonna go and add her in now. Sorry. I don't think I could ever write a multi-partner fic that well anyway, I usually have a hard enough time making 1 on 1 be realistic. If you want harem fics, go read stuff by Pokemaster12.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"_From the expression on your face, things didn't go well?"_

_Naruto frowned as Shikamaru literally collapsed into the chair across from his desk. Just thinking that it was his desk was rather strange, especially considering they moved their camp every couple of weeks... but they always made sure he had a desk to use._

"_It's so troublesome."_

"_You say that after every mission," Naruto ground out._

"_True. Though this one was more troublesome than most. We lost the Tsuchikage and..." Shikamaru let out a deep breath, his face scrunched up in anguish,"I'm sorry, but we also lost Gaara."_

_Feeling like Shikamaru's words were like a punch to the gut, __Naruto's original instinct was to blow up in a rage... but he immediately clamped down on that urge, remembering they were in a war. Gaara had volunteered to go and assured him that they'd get the mission done, no matter what. Naruto had already lost so many ninja, and continued to lose them in small amounts on weekly, and sometimes even a daily basis. Both he and Shikamaru were close to the red-haired Kazekage, and his loss impacted them both deeply._

_The blond settled for rubbing his forehead, and letting out a sigh. "Report."_

"_We arrived at the location just at sunrise, with no encounters," Shikamaru began to explain without hesitation, as if he wanted to get the story off his chest as soon as possible. "We managed to move swiftly with a smaller group. It was only a recon mission, but Gaara thought the presence in the obelisk was familiar, so he requested that he be allowed to investigate. We voted within the group and decided it would be a good idea for him to check._

"_He approached the obelisk and placed his hand on it. He claimed he could feel the Ichibi in the obelisk, and it was responding to him. He was going to attempt to remove it. But then Tobi struck._

"_I don't know how he found us, but I'm pretty sure he has some sort of detection ward or seal set up around the obelisk that none of us noticed. Instinct told me we would be walking into the trap but I felt freeing a bijuu would be worth the risk. So did everyone else._

"_Tobi appeared out of nowhere like he usually does, and used one of those artifacts he has to cut Gaara, then warped him out of the area so we couldn't heal him. Before anyone could really do anything, Gaara was already gone, and it wasn't long after that when I noticed we were surrounded. I informed Tsuchikage-sama, and he told me to run back with as many people as I could while he held them off. We could still hear the sound of fighting miles away."_

_Naruto leaned back in his chair as he listened to all of the report. "How many made it back?"_

"_Seventeen out of the twenty-five."_

"_Better than I was expecting for coming under attack by Tobi directly."_

"_We lost two on the way back, because of the Moon."_

_Naruto was quiet for a moment, but then shook his head. "Not good to hear, but still better than I expected. Tobi must have been preoccupied to let that many of you get away. Not that I'm not thankful – because I am – it's just something that doesn't happen when he involves himself directly."_

_The two of them sat in companionable silence, before Naruto stretched in his chair, then looked at Shikamaru. The other boy was leaning back completely in the chair, eyes closed. He actually looked completely worn out for a change, instead of just being lazy._

"_Shikamaru - go get some rest. Tell one of the guys to send a message to Kakashi and Darui, I need to talk to them. When you're more awake, tell me as much as you can about these obelisks."_

_The other boy literally rolled out of his chair as he turned and headed for the exit. "You got it, Naruto. See ya."_

_The blond watched as his old friend left the command tent. What he wouldn't give to have paperwork as his enemy right now, instead of the current hell they were in._

* * *

Naruto stifled a yawn as he went over some of the reports he was charged with looking over in his capacity as overseer of the new arrivals, which had kept him incredibly busy. He had to greet all of the new visitors whenever there was a large group, and either help them get set up or to meet up with the rest of their clan. Others needed to be directed to real estate brokers, construction and immigration offices, the Academy and ninja registration buildings, among other places.

There wasn't anything that grabbed his attention, so he set the papers down and looked out the window of his office. He had been granted a room to use in the Administration building, just a few levels below the Hokage's office. It made sense in the long run, this way he wouldn't have to make the trek from his apartment when something came up with the clans and he was needed.

Leaning forward and resting his head on his hand, he looked to the side, out the window. It was easy to spot the cranes and construction scaffolding near the walls, where all the new construction was taking place. They had finally run out of free space within the village proper itself, and had started planning to build a second, smaller wall outside the first. Essentially the village would have another 'ring' outside of the first wall. Interestingly... it had always been part of the initial planning to have multiple walls and defensive layers, but they had scrapped them in favor of one big wall. Now, however, they would be building a second wall anyway.

As his eyes skimmed over the various buildings he could see from his office, he smiled as his eyes fell upon the Academy. He had stopped by on a whim the other day, just to see how the school was doing. He wasn't exactly trying to hide his presence, and as a result one of the teachers with an outdoor class had spotted him and called him over to do some demonstrations. Of course he was more happy to oblige. So what if his ulterior motive was to see who was currently in school right now?

The first person he thought of was Iruka, but he was either in one of the earlier year's classes or wasn't even in the Academy yet, since the kids where he was seemed to be 11 or 12 and just about to graduate. Only slightly depressed at this realization, he quickly discovered that the only person he could recognize in the class in front of him was a very boisterous Sarutobi Asuma.

He made plans in his mind to come back and explore the Academy later, once he wasn't bogged down with work just to check and see who was where, mostly out of curiosity. Even though pretty much everyone he knew that was older than him grew up fine, there were a couple... special cases that he was interested in.

A gentle knock on his door pulled him out of his musings. "Yes?"

The door opened slowly, and Naruto was able to carefully mask his surprise as Uchiha Kagami entered the room. The blond hopped up out of his chair to assist the older man, who hobbled along slightly thanks to his bad knee, but was waved off.

"I'm not _that _old, Naruto."

"Oh... sorry? I didn't know."

Kagami chuckled as he moved towards one of the other unoccupied chairs in the room. "It's fine. Just a nasty encounter with an Iwa nin during the Second War that shattered my knee. Got a pretty good replacement thanks to Tsunade-sama, but I'll never go active duty again." The retired shinobi gestured towards one of the other chairs in the room. "I'll just sit here, the walk was a little longer than I anticipated."

Naruto nodded slowly as he closed the office door. "You could have sent a message and I would have come to you, Uchi-err, I mean, Kagami-san."

Kagami grinned at the way the blond caught himself, but shook his head. "No, it's fine. I needed to chat with Hiruzen about a few things, but I also wanted to talk to you outside of the clan boundary. Too many ears there."

Naruto was immediately placed on guard, and it must have shown in his posture because Kagami idly waved his hand in the air. "Easy, Naruto. It's nothing serious, well – for me, at least - but I'd rather not have people gossiping. Just the fact that I was probably seen visiting you here will set gums flapping, but there is nothing that can be done about that."

"Alright." Naruto was somewhat reassured, but he still hated politics, and one thing he learned quickly was that Konoha was all about politics right now when they weren't at war. Some days, sadly, he might actually have preferred war – not that he'd ever tell anyone. At least objectives were fairly obvious... beat up the bad guy and be the victor. Unfortunately life in general was never so simple, especially when there was no visible 'bad guy'.

Kagami watched as the blond moved back around his desk and slowly sat down. Leaning back in his chair, he scratched at his chin before looking the Uchiha Patriarch in the eyes. "So, what can I do for you Kagami-san?"

"I'll get right to the point. It's not so much for me as it is for my daughter, Mikoto."

"Mikoto-chan? What's wrong?"

One of Kagami's eyebrows arched upward. "Mikoto-_chan_? Can't say I saw that one coming."

Naruto faltered for a moment, blushing lightly as he registered just who who it was that he was speaking with. Mikoto was a very good friend of his, and after a while it just became habit to show he was fond of her. He did it to nearly every female that was near his age. Most of them didn't care, and Mikoto didn't seem to have anything against it, either. "I-I'm sorry, Kagami-san. I don't really mean anything by it but I usually refer-"

"It's fine, Naruto. Great, actually." Kagami held up his hand in a stopping gesture as Naruto began to ramble, effectively stopping the blond from potentially embarrassing himself. "You see, my daughter doesn't know that I'm here right now. She's currently wandering the Uchiha District with that other man, Fugaku."

Naruto nodded slowly, not sure where this was going. "Her fiancé, right?"

"Yes, but not for much longer, I believe."

Naruto tilted his head to the side, startled but also confused. "But from what Mikoto-chan tells me, when she was younger she asked you to set up a... what did she call it? A contract, I think? You're against it now?"

"Oh, I'm not against them. They can be useful to set boundaries, or when there is definite gain in prestige or power to both sides. My daughter never really wanted a contract, but she felt she needed one because for a long time she considered herself to be untouchable. As an only child and daughter of the head of the Uchicha clan, an attractive young woman, and a wild temper when she lets it out - thanks to the friends she has kept for many years... she is seen as a rather intimidating figure."

Naruto felt his lips twitch upward slightly at the hint regarding his mother. Kagami must have noticed because he started smiling too.

"So you can see why a lot of boys her age would not be too interested in getting very close to her, both out of fear thanks to myself and Habanero-chan. So I matched her up as best I could, with a slightly older man who was still close enough to her age but yet also quite accomplished."

Naruto distractedly scratched at the side of his head as he listened to Kagami, and could now only come to one conclusion, "She doesn't want to get married to him, then."

"No, she doesn't." Kagami looked inordinately pleased at this for some reason.

"How long ago did she decide this? I thought she said they had been engaged for a while, and the wedding wasn't too far off?"

Kagami leaned back in his chair, stretching his leg out. "I'm surprised she's told you this much. She's normally rather reserved with anyone other than myself, Minato, Taichi, and Kushina-chan."

Naruto shrugged and turned his head to look out the window. "Not long after the mission we went on together, she would randomly ask me to spar every now and again. It's been happening lately with increased frequency. When we take breaks, and I've asked her how she's doing, she just starts talking and letting everything out. I got the impression she just needed someone to vent at, and... lets just say I'm a lot better at listening than I used to be when I was younger."

"I understand, and I appreciate that you listen to her." Kagami leaned back in the chair, pressing his fingertips together in front of his chest. "Taichi always seems to be on assignment, Minato is always working on his new techniques, and Kushina-chan... well... as much as I love the girl as if she was my own daughter, she is a bit of a motormouth. I doubt Mikoto could ever really get a word in."

Closing his eyes and chuckling, Naruto nodded. He could definitely see that being the case. "So, are you trying to tell me that you need something done with Fugaku?" While he wasn't really looking forward to doing anything harmful to Sasuke's father, perhaps he could get the man to lighten up a bit. Mikoto's stories about him definitely didn't paint a pretty picture.

"Personally, I have nothing at all against the young man," Kagami shrugged, "But even I can see he isn't the right fit for my daughter. For leading a clan, he would be fine, but I don't see him being successful as a husband, or even a father. He's too devoted to work and is a... little too stubborn."

Naruto's mind immediately snapped to Itachi and Sasuke, and barely managed to squelch a derisive snort. Thinking about Itachi also made him recall the attempted coup that Fugaku would spearhead someday, and that alone left what felt like a lump of ice in his gut.

"But now Mikoto has found someone else that has sparked her interest, and she's serious enough about it that she wants to break off her current engagement."

Naruto was silent for a moment as he let Kagami's words bounce around in his head. While he was still somewhat obtuse about certain matters and probably always would be, he definitely wasn't a complete idiot anymore. A certain feeling of dread started to hang over him as all he could think was _'Sasuke's mom, Sasuke's mom, Sasuke's mom!'_. The best he would likely get away with now was delaying the inevitable... unless he was willing to potentially make an enemy of the Uchiha. _That_was something he was definitely hoping to avoid.

Damn politics.

To top it all off, he was rather wary about getting entangled in any relationships simply for practical reasons. Firstly, he would have to tell whoever he was to get involved with that he was from quite a few years in the future. Any relationship he got into would potentially stop one that set of a chain of events that led to something he could know how to fix. Getting involved with someone like Mikoto would change a _huge_ series of events. The Itachi he briefly knew and the Sasuke he was a rival and teammate of would never exist. Ever. The thought process that continued from that point was staggering. No Itachi meant that the Uchiha Massacre would never happen, or it would be someone else that did it. But one of his objectives – to save the Uchiha clan – would be easily accomplished this way.

Who better to confront a madman with a fully evolved Sharingan than with a clan full of the potential to do the same, even when considering the risks?

It was strange that Kagami would approach him now, considering Naruto had been entertaining thoughts of trying to get to know Terumi Mei a little better. She had been almost attached to his hip as he was coordinating with all the bloodline clans that had moved to Konoha from Kiri, acting as a secretary of sorts when she wasn't training. As the next potential leader of the Terumi clan (which was acknowledged as the most powerful among their new arrivals) she was getting good experience for dealing with administrative aspects.

What Naruto found odd was that she was rather shy unless someone addressed her first. He had thought perhaps he could ask her out to get her to open up a little, but was mildly surprised to find that she already had a boyfriend. He didn't want to pry, but the kiss they shared definitely wasn't one done between family.

He felt some disappointment, of course, as he got to know Mei a little from his future – very well in one painfully brief encounter – and had considered getting to know her now, earlier in her life. That had gotten shot down before it could really even get started.

Now that he thought about it, the few times Mikoto had come looking for him and Mei was still around, the Uchiha had been rougher and more aggressive than usual in their sparring sessions. It was becoming clearer and clearer.

Leaning back in his chair and trying to unsuccessfully find a comfortable position, he took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Let me guess. I'm the someone else she found?"

"You don't sound pleased."

Kagami's voice had a dangerous edge to it, but Naruto simply shook his head and sighed. "It's not that. I'm flattered, honestly. She's one of the strongest kunoichi that Konoha has, is the heir to one of the strongest clans in the village, and, yes, I think she's beautiful. But it's dangerous as hell for me to get involved."

Naruto opened his eyes to look at the current leader of the clan who was sitting across from him, only slightly surprised to see something that could pass as respect on the man's features. His lips were turned upward slightly in a slight grin, at least, and that made Naruto relax more than anything else.

"I wouldn't say it will be dangerous, exactly. It might create an uproar for a little while, but with your current standing in the village I don't think it would last."

Naruto blinked. "Wait... you're supporting this?"

"Of course. It's what my daughter wants, and like I said, I was never a huge fan of Fugaku to begin with. There simply were no better options at the time." Kagami idly played with the hem on one of his sleeves as he spoke.

Naruto's brain, meanwhile, was going a mile a minute. Things were already messed up because of the clans from Kiri here, but if he went through with helping to void Mikoto's engagement to Fugaku, thoughts of how much would change once again passed through his mind. The part of him that was male would never reject the idea completely... from what he knew of Mikoto, she was definitely very close to his ideal of feminine perfection. Fugaku was an idiot to not treat her better.

Thinking back, he couldn't help but wonder what she was like when he was growing up. He didn't really have any memories of her that came to his mind, other than occasional visits to get Sasuke at the Academy, and one brief glimpse at the Military Police Headquarters. But he couldn't remember anything more than that, and Sasuke never told him more than her name. He always had a rather glorified view of what parents were because he never had any of his own, but if this was what it was really like before Sasuke and Itachi were born...

"Naruto?"

The blond immediately sat up straight, quickly apologizing, "Sorry! I just let my mind wander..."

"About Mikoto?" There might have been a teasing tone to Kagami's voice, but Naruto didn't know the man well enough to be sure.

"Sort of. Just thinking about what I knew of her from our spars and occasional chats. It's not much, I'm afraid."

"Well, you've only been public knowledge for about two months, so I wouldn't expect you to know her life's story. But you'll have some time to get to know her soon. I've managed to convince Hiruzen to dispatch you on a mission with my daughter to get you out of the village for a few days."

Naruto was shocked. "How did you manage to pull that off? I didn't think the old man would want to let me out of his sight for the near future."

Kagami barked out a laugh, "The old man? Hiruzen? I know he's getting up there, but damn. Does he let you get away with that?"

"Sometimes." Naruto blushed and looked away. "I've known him for so long, he's like the closest thing I have to a dad, so I just call him the old man." It wasn't a complete truth, but it was close enough.

As the Uchiha's chuckles settled down, he reached into his robes and pulled out a sealed scroll, then tossed it to Naruto, who caught it in one hand.

"It should be simple for one person, and a walk in the park for two of you. It's A-Rank but we probably could have given it to a veteran chunin squad. A group of militia from Valley Country deserted their posts, and our hunter squads have picked up rumors of them hiding out along our southern border with River. Scour the area and if you find them, wipe them out. They don't know anything of importance but they need to be made an example of to discourage further desertions. This was likely a fluke, but they don't want to risk it."

Naruto nodded as he opened the scroll and read the details. It was minimum pay for an A-Rank, but he wasn't exactly hurting for money so he didn't care too much. The mission itself likely would be as easy as Kagami claimed, he could probably have finished it himself within two or three days, the six day window they allowed seemed a little much. But then they probably were expecting a veteran chunin squad, and not a capable jonin and... well... _him_.

Rolling the scroll back up, he placed it on his desk and hummed for a moment.

"Just out of curiosity, why can't you just break the engagement off?"

"Mainly because it's too late to do it that way." Kagami shrugged as he moved on his chair, likely trying to find another comfortable position. "Had it been only a couple of months after the original engagement, Fugaku likely would have been fine with it. But now that they have been seeing each other for such a long time, he sees it as an insult. Believe me, I already tried it through the proper channels, and even went to appeal to him directly with Mikoto at my side. With only a month until the wedding though, he's within his rights to refuse."

"Why do both have to agree? Aren't there ways to break contracts, even if there are penalties?"

Kagami nodded, "Yes, but in this case all contract breakers were meant to be agreements. There is no way a contract break will be acknowledged by any Uchiha if only one side wants to break it. Fugaku is both stubborn and ambitious, there is no reason for him to break it on what he sees as a whim of Mikoto, and most others would back his choice. Of course, like any contract, there are emergency clauses that can go into effect when certain criterion are met, such as death, sickness..."

He waved his hand in the air in a rotating motion as if to signify that the list of bad things went on, but stopped and focused his eyes on Naruto for his last word.

"Infidelity."

Naruto's jaw went slack for a moment, before his head promptly fell forward and his forehead hit his desktop with a resounding 'thump'.

"Now now, it's likely not the way you're thinking, and I'm using a very loose interpretation of the word. A simple kiss will break it off."

"Huh? How is that possible?" The blond's head lifted as he asked his question, staring at Kagami as if he was a madman.

"It's part of the way the contract seal works. As long as both of their chakra states are unchanged from the moment the contract is sealed, it will remain in effect. So Mikoto and Fugaku have both gone nearly a year without doing anything with a member of the opposite sex. As far as I know, Mikoto has never done anything, ever. However, I haven't asked her either. It isn't my business. Her mother would have killed me."

Naruto chuckled nervously as he starred at a grinning Kagami, thinking about the man's words. He would have to check out what kind of seal was on that contract. Was it self-updating? How was that possible?

"Err... I still don't see how it's possible to have a seal update itself, based on external stimulus, unless..."

One of Kagami's eyebrows twitched upwards, "So you know some things about sealing? Well, Mikoto and Fugaku have to go to the clan chambers to place their chakra in the seal once a week, or after returning from a mission. The seal can detect residual chakra from another within a week time period, so neither of them have had a mission that has lasted more than a few days over the last year."

Naruto knew about residual chakra... it often happened when you got into Taijutsu fights with an opponent that laced their attacks with their chakra. The Hyuuga specialized in that. When they would close off tenketsu with their jyuuken strikes, their chakra would leave its own residue in your chakra system that would last for a up to a week depending on the severity of the strikes. It wasn't harmful, it was just the way chakra worked. It was how medics were able to find out how shinobi died, and sometimes even who did it. Everyone's chakra had their own unique 'signature'.

"Seems like it's rather complicated for something so simple."

"True, but it's been used by the Uchiha since before Konoha existed, so who am I to argue about it now? I'll admit that it is unusual to use a contract like this, but since both of them were already of age, there was no choice. It was also Mikoto who asked for the one year grace period. Fugaku didn't seem too eager to wait that long but he eventually agreed."

Naruto simply sighed and shook his head. He never understood some clan laws. He had sworn to change the Hyuuga's practice of the caged bird seal when he became Hokage, but that never really panned out for obvious reasons. But with the Uchiha... with the Uchiha... wait...

"Whoa! Wait! Mikoto is the heir, right? If she gets with me, what does that mean?"

Kagami smirked. "Technically, since the Uchiha are a Patriarchal clan, you'll be the leader. Of course there will be elder advisers and-"

"B-But I wasn't born an Uchiha! I don't have the Sharingan! I'm an Uzumaki, and as distant relatives of the Senju I don't think that will go over very well!" Naruto was standing up now, looking panicked, while Kagami was still sitting in his chair, calmly staring.

The two continued staring at each other in some strange sort of silence until Naruto eventually sat back down. Kagami nodded his head at the blond, and continued speaking.

"As I was going to say, there are elder advisers in the clan who may not like you at first, but even they will come to understand the sway you have in Konoha, and by extension, Konoha's Hokage. You have Hiruzen's ear as much as I do, and at the rate he's completing difficult assignments and leading teams I'd bet on Minato being the next Hokage... so you'll have an advantage with him too. I've always thought the Uchiha needed to be more involved with the village, not removed from it like so many of us seem content being."

"But if you really want to shake things up, placing my daughter as the Matriarch and letting her take charge... well..." Kagami's voice trailed off as he shrugged and looked out one of the two windows in Naruto's little office.

Meanwhile, the blond realized for the first time that he never knew what happened to Uchiha Kagami when he was growing up. He had never been one to read up on clan history, especially not once the fourth war hit, but he didn't ever remember hearing the man's name come out of anyone's mouth. Was he forcefully... 'retired'? All of these thoughts happened in a brief moment, it didn't take long for him to pick back up on what Kagami was now saying.

The fact that Kagami was also talking about the two of them in such a way that it made it sound like their getting together would be a certainty. He wasn't terribly keen on that, but so far the positives far outweighed the negatives. He'd feel like an ass for a while for pulling one over on Fugaku, but considering how Mikoto had been sharing with him how disillusioned she was with the man during their last few spars... he wouldn't feel _that_ bad.

Still, it would take some getting used to, if they did in fact work out.

"- will be there to help you as well, and Mikoto will have an obligation to as your wife, should you follow through with actually wanting to lead. Regardless, as I've already explained by now, I see only good things from having you in the clan."

"I... well..." Naruto's mouth opened and closed a few times, as he contemplated on what to say, before finally sighing and nodding, almost as if resigning himself to a new fate. "Thank you."

Kagami nodded. "Hn."

That grunt _must_ be a genetic trait.

* * *

Thankfully, the rest of that day had passed uneventfully, other than a brief visit from Minato. He wanted help from Naruto in putting the finishing touches on his 'new' Hiraishin, and needed a guinea pig. Of course, Naruto was happy to oblige, as he had used it briefly in the future, but it was always a dream of his to see his father using it.

Or at least it became one once he found out who his father was_, _anyway.

He actually didn't even see Mikoto until the night before they were to leave on their mission, and even then neither of them really said much. Mikoto was blushing slightly and couldn't look him in the eye – it was likely that Kagami told her what she had to do if she really wanted to break things off with Fugaku. While Naruto wasn't sure exactly how the situation had explained things to her, he knew that he wouldn't have a problem giving Mikoto a kiss. She _was_a beautiful young woman, of that there was no doubt. His only awkwardness came from the fact that he didn't know if Kagami told her about him knowing what was necessary, other than the fact that she needed to have his residual chakra on her in some manner.

Mikoto barely managed to make plans to meet up the next morning at the gate before she fled almost as quickly as she had arrived. Chuckling to himself, Naruto had left a message with Hiruzen that he would be heading out the next morning, then went home and crashed for the night.

That morning had passed uneventfully, and they had traveled to the southern border in complete silence. In fact, they had both been completely silent for the entire trip, plus their arrival. Mikoto had gone in to get reservations at the inn of a small border town before him, asking for a single room with one bed. She had refused to say anything more to him about it, and Naruto figured it would be best to bite his tongue until they actually needed to use the room. He had no problem sleeping on the floor if it came to that.

Their first day of searching had turned up nothing useful, other than a few disjointed sightings from various people living in the area, though none of them could really point the duo in a specific direction.

Naruto planned to make use of Sage Mode to track them down once they at least had a lead on the nukenin's general location, but figured he'd leave that for use after a couple days. If Mikoto actually wanted to go through with... well, being with him, then he'd have to tell her his secrets anyway. Using it would likely be a last resort, because he had permission from the Hokage and Danzo to kill her if he thought she couldn't be trusted to not talk about the things he would eventually have to tell her.

He really, _really _didn't want to do that.

It wasn't until Mikoto asked about giving up for the day and returning to their room that they actually started talking. Their first real talk of the day didn't even start until a flicker of surprise crossed his face when he saw Mikoto with her Sharingan active as they were heading back. She had likely been scanning the area for traces of residual active chakra, like genjutsu traps and active seal tags that nukenin were often fond of using.

"What?" Mikoto was looking at him curiously as her Sharingan faded back into the dark brown, almost black color that her irises typically were. Normally he probably wouldn't have flinched at all, he'd gotten so used to seeing the Sharingan, but the sun was setting below the horizon at just the perfect point behind her to where it silhouetted her frame perfectly, and the red eyes with pale skin and black hair made her look incredibly vibrant for a fleeting moment.

Instead of telling her this, however, Naruto simply offered a faint smile and shook his head. "I'm not used to seeing your Sharingan active. You've never used it in one of our spars. That's all."

"Do you... have a problem? With the Sharingan, I mean?"

Naruto had to bite his tongue to keep from saying what his initial responses would have been. Instead, he settled with, "I don't have a problem with the Sharingan at all. Only with some people that have used it the way they shouldn't have."

"Oh. I-I see..."

Naruto could tell by the questioning lilt to her voice and the puzzled expression on her face that she really didn't. It was going to be really hard to tell her some of the things he knew. If she decided to go that far with him, anyway.

The rest of their trip back to the inn was silent, not that Naruto was expecting intense conversation. In fact, once again they didn't speak a single word until it was time for him to go take his shower. She went into their single restroom first and came out wearing just her normal uniform minus any footwear, gear, and vest. He assumed she had cleaned them, because they looked fresh, though he didn't do a close inspection. They were all taught techniques that could clean clothes somewhat while out in the wild while they were in the academy. It would remove sweat, but not blood.

After his shower, he had exited the restroom in much the same manner, only in his uniform top and bottom, with the mesh underneath. Their next spoken words weren't until he was about to get comfortable on the floor. She was on one side of the bed, but he wasn't about to presume.

"Naruto?"

"Hm?"

"Do you not like me that much?"

"Wha- of course not! Where did that come from?"

Mikoto shifted on the bed, and lifted herself up so that she was propped up on one of her elbows as she stared at him. He hadn't laid down completely yet, so he was stuck in some sort of halfway position between laying down and getting up.

"My father hinted that the two of you had talked briefly about... me, but he would not tell me how much you talked about. I'm beginning to wonder if you are trying to avoid me."

Naruto tried to keep his expression neutral, and slowly rose to his feet once again. "I'm not avoiding you at all. I'm just trying to remain professional and not overstep any boundaries. At least until you want to change them."

Mikoto looked surprised for a moment before dropping back down onto the bed and burying her face in her pillow. Naruto simply stood there for a moment and watched to see if she would move again, or if she would say anything further. She didn't, however, and after about a minute of standing there he decided to move forward and climb onto the side of the bed.

The bed itself was actually full size, so it could fit two people comfortably without much extra room. Mikoto could easily feel his weight shift the bed, though, since she turned her head enough to be able to watch him as he settled on the side.

It was strange, in a way, for him to not feel any nervousness at all. Just two or three years ago he would have been sweating bullets, but now he felt calm, and if he really had to describe it... he would say he was amused. That was mostly because of how Mikoto was acting, though if she had no legitimate experience with men he could understand completely.

He sighed in his mind – even though Mikoto was the one who wanted out, he might have to be the one to take initiative at first. Thinking of that, he tossed her a casual smile. "Is this better?"

He saw her head nod against the pillow, and the edge of her lip that he could see curved upward slightly, but that was about all he got. This meant that he would be the one who had to take the initial plunge to get her to open up.

Getting comfortable, he rolled on the bed until he was looking up at the ceiling, and placed his hands behind his head.

"So, you really don't want to get married? We've talked about this a little before, but you never really sounded against it."

Naruto could hear her breathing hitch for a second, before she shifted. He turned his head slightly to see that she was moving back into her previous position on her side, facing him.

"I do want to get married. Just... not to the person I have a contact with."

"Fugaku."

A moment of silence, followed by, "Yes. Fugaku."

Naruto closed his eyes, having a hard time reconciling this fact. He had no idea that Sasuke's parents had gotten together because of circumstance, rather than any mutual attraction.

"Now something - or rather someone - has come along that you think is a better choice. So far, anyway."

There was another moment of silence, longer than the first, followed by an even quieter, "Yes."

Opening his eyes, he rolled onto his side so that he could look at the woman laying next to him. She didn't flinch or look away this time, instead staring straight into his eyes. He couldn't tell if she was blushing or not, the room was too dark.

"There's a lot about me you don't know. More than meets the eye. For all you know, I only existed starting three months ago."

Mikoto didn't say anything at first, instead just nodding her head while never breaking eye contact. She opened her mouth as if to say something, then closed it and her eyes before inhaling deeply and attempting to speak in halting sentences.

"I... found that I started admiring you after only knowing who you were for a couple weeks. Maybe part of that was because of Kushina... she wouldn't... couldn't stop talking about you and I found myself getting curious. So I, well... I invited you to sparring practice. I figured you had to be good if you could go toe to toe with Minato. Then, well... then I heard what you said to Jiraiya-sensei."

Naruto blinked, and knew he was blushing as soon as he remembered exactly what it was that he had said at that moment. He moved his hand that was resting against his side to lightly smack against his forehead in an exasperated gesture, only for Mikoto to grab said hand before he could leave it there.

He watched, curious, as she held his hand between them, and entwined her fingers in his. "Do you remember what you said to him?"

"That he was a pervert and shouldn't be doing that."

Mikoto laughed lightly across from him, a small smile on her features as she shook her head. "He was the sensei for my genin team. We were never able to break him of the habit, so I doubt anyone else can. No, you said something else to him."

Naruto knew immediately what she was fishing for. "I said you were beautiful."

She stared at him for a moment again, before a smile larger than he had ever seen before appeared on her face.

"Yes. No one other than my father has ever said that to me before."

Naruto couldn't help but be stunned when he heard that. Was everyone here completely _blind_? He had never really stared at her on purpose because of her looks, but other than his future mother Kushina (he was biased, in that regard) and perhaps Mei, Mikoto was definitely one of the most beautiful woman around.

"Men are idiots."

Mikoto laughed before bringing his hand towards her mouth and briefly kissing the back of it. He was surprised at the gesture, but for the first time he could remember, she seemed genuinely happy so he decided not to comment. It wasn't until she used both of her hands to pull his hand and cuddle it just under her chin that he spoke again.

"Mikoto-chan?"

"Hmm?" Naruto had to admit that she looked adorable right now. She seemed to be positively glowing with happiness. If nothing else, that pretty much sealed the deal in his mind.

"Over the next few days while we're doing this mission, we'll get to know each other better. Likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future... that sort of thing." Who knew Kakashi's little introductory questions would come in handy? "If you decide you still want to go through with this when we're done, I'll help you break your contract."

Mikoto's eyes went wide as she clutched his hand more firmly in hers. "Promise?" she whispered.

"I promise."

* * *

**A/N:** Longest chapter so far. Next one will be longer. (Totally typing Experiments in Empathy atm while listening to the new Swedish House Mafia song.)

In other news... the review response to last chapter? Wow. Color me completely surprised. 94 reviews - I think that's the most I've ever gotten for a single chapter of any one of my stories. I know I don't ask for them (well, not in the last 2 years) but I still do appreciate them all the same... it lets me know people are interested and are in most cases enjoying what they read. The last review I got was even from someone who was sitting and waiting for me to update this chapter. (Here's looking at you, Netinho, sorry for the delay!) For some reason formatting keeps giving me issues when going between OpenOffice and this site.

Review responses, trying to cover them all in summary format:

- **FINAL** - There will be no harem, no multi-partner, no incest. Sorry to those who that disappoints. I had never planned this story to be like that. It's been written with Naruto x Mikoto, one on one (including the growing pains), from the very beginning. For those of you who like Mei, I did leave a bit of a hint in the middle of this chapter. See if you can find it. If not, the answer will come in Chapter 11. I didn't want to lead anyone on about Naruto and Kushina potentially getting together, I was actually trying to aim for them to have a close relationship that indicated friendship that was borderline familial, though Kushina would be unaware just how much for a long time. Kushina will be with Minato, there is no changing that - but that's not to say Naruto didn't catch her eye for a little bit because of an overheard comment. 'Look but don't touch' applies.

- World Reactions - To Konoha's build up begin in Arc 3, after the Naruto and Mikoto build up, and once the Third War effectively starts. Still a few chapters until then.

- Minato, Kushina knowing; Kyuubi - Not going to spoil it, so keep guessing! XD

- Depressing Flashbacks - They are kind of supposed to be. It's the world Naruto remembers - some fondly, some not so much. He's trying to keep it from coming to pass in the future, at least a future without the Fourth War.

- Orochimaru - Lets just say his 'plans' are having to be re-thought, very carefully.

- Harem or Incest, my personal take - Being blunt, neither bother me in the least, though I believe I have a rather 'hands-off' mentality to them. I _think_ a large majority of readers/writers are like me, as long as it doesn't affect me on a personal level, I'm game for reading about it for_ '_entertainment'? purposes so long as it's done in at least a semi-believable way (good luck). My opinions on them are really hard to describe, but I have the mindset where I can easily separate reality from fantasy. I am most definitely not capable of writing smut, and I have written a sample lemon (no, it's not posted anywhere visible) just to try to get into it. It's not really my cup of tea, but I think that mostly comes from the fact that I have a hard time getting the feeling that I've made it entertaining rather than a lesson in human anatomy and biology without falling completely into the trap of purple prose. *shrug* I've been toying with writing a brief lemon for Experiments, but we'll see.

- Mei's age - There is no official age for her as far as I'm aware. The way she's drawn, and considering she's a Kage, I think it would be appropriate to place her in the mid-to-late 30's. For the purposes of Rewritten, she is currently ~16-17, which following a rough Naruto timeline would make her ~38-39 in Shippuuden. (Naruto is the eldest now at 20, Kushina is 16.)

See you all next week. Sorry that this one was a little later than my normal posting by a few hours, but I had a lot of formatting issues with this one.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"_Naruto, Kakashi! Come here, I think this is it."_

_Both shinobi quickly moved over towards where Darui was standing, brushing his hand across a wall._

"_What is it?" Naruto was waving his hand in front of his face in an effort to keep from breathing in so much dust. They were in one of the ruined buildings of Uzushiogakure, looking for something. They weren't sure what, but the Tsuchikage had mentioned they pillaged an incomplete scroll that looked like a very powerful teleportation or transmission jutsu of some sort back during the second war. The three of them had come to what was left of the old village in hopes of finding some clues._

"_Yeah, look. Kakashi, open the scroll. I think the script on it matches the same script on the wall."_

_Kakashi pulled the scroll out of the holder on his back, and opened it up. Moving it up against the wall, the trio compared the script, looking at both of them to see if it was a match. The scroll itself told them that the technique was in fact a method of transportation, and that it required a lot of power. But exactly what it did was what they were trying to find out._

_Naruto started to move down to examine the rest of the wall. The pictures on the wall were drawn in a series, and in each series there was one person standing in the middle. He wasn't completely sure, but it looked like they drew that person at different ages, because as the pictures continued the person in the middle would get taller, and then eventually started using what he guessed was a cane._

_It was the first three and last three pictures that made him curious, because they were exactly the same. Well, there was one single difference... the person in the middle of the first three was no longer in the middle of the last three, he was off to the side. But the person in the middle of the first three was the same as the person in the last three._

_There was something else that was nagging at him though..._

"_Hey Kakashi!" Naruto shouted in the direction where Kakashi was, it seemed he and Darui had moved off to examine something else down the long hallway._

"_Yeah?"_

"_What kind of technique did you think this was?"_

"_A space and time one, from a couple of the script runes I saw... including the ones you recognized. That style is normally how you transport things anyway. Why?"_

"_Because I see part of the Hiraishin seal on the wall here."_

_It only took a moment for Kakashi and Darui to arrive next to him, and he pointed out where the seal was on the painting. It was right under where the person in the middle was standing the whole time. He was too busy paying attention to the person, and not the script under him._

"_Something I don't understand," Naruto began to comment, "Is that I only recognize the movement part of the seal because all Hiraishin does is move me forward in time to my destination, and then barely a second back in time so it seems like I'm moving instantly. But there is a lot more to this one."_

_He further explained what he had noticed about the images, especially regarding the person in the middle and how that changes in the last three pictures. Based on his explanation, it only took Darui another moment to piece it all together._

"_It's time travel. But it looks like the purpose is to take a large leap back in time. The person in the middle stays the same the whole time... it's just that the first person in the middle moves off to the side as he observes a younger self in the past." Darui's hand traced the lines of the seal under the person in the middle before he stepped backwards, observing the whole thing again._

"_Kakashi, look... didn't we see a pattern like this in the other room back there?"_

"_Yes." The silver haired man nodded as he examined the images with his original uncovered eye. "Each of the people is standing in one of those circles we saw on the floor in the other room."_

"_Why do they have to stand there?" Naruto inquired._

"_I'm not certain, but the only thing I can suggest is that they are powering the seal in the middle. I don't know if you feel the pull, Naruto, but Minato-sensei always said that the larger the distance he had to travel, the bigger the drain he felt on his chakra." Kakashi reached out and brushed some dust away from the painting. "It seems to me that the further back you want to travel, the more power it would take."_

_Naruto idly scratched at his stomach as he continued looking at the figure standing in the middle, and the seal under it. He stood completely still for a second as his eyes appeared to glaze over, before turning his head to look at the other two._

"_Hey, Kurama wants to know how far back you think we can go if we were to use the chakra of a bijuu?"_

_Kakashi and Darui looked at each other in shock before looking back at Naruto. It was Kakashi who answered, though._

"_Probably quite a few years..."_

* * *

The remaining three days of their assignment were uneventful, at least if the moment they found the group of nukenin wasn't counted. The only real excitement that happened was when two of Naruto's clones began to do a collaboration technique of wind and water in order to quickly eliminate a bandit camp they happened to pass. It gathered Mikoto's interest, making her request to do an experiment with her affinity – fire. The two of them quickly learned that the Great Breakthrough and Phoenix Flower techniques, when mixed, make for quite the impressive display. Most of the remainder of their other days were spent doing the actual searching for their objective, though each consecutive day Mikoto asked that they return to the inn earlier and earlier.

He wasn't complaining about it one bit either, Mikoto was a very interesting woman and had plenty of stories to share that revolved around her and Kushina or her genin team and the things they did to get Jiraiya to stop being a pervert. Naruto desperately wanted to share some of his stories with her, but pretty much everything he wanted to tell her was considered 'classified' at the moment.

As it was he was conflicted about telling her certain things about himself. Not because they may sound absurd - _even if they would _- but more or less because he didn't want Mikoto to like or dislike him for the wrong reasons at this point in their friendship. At one point he finally used Sage Mode to pinpoint the location of the nukenin, and explaining that was a stretch without giving too much away. He had to chalk it up to simply being a special sensory technique, though Mikoto didn't look terribly convinced. He managed to escape too many more questions by promising to explain it in a little more detail once they were no longer on a mission. With everything that was likely to happen upon their return to Konoha, he was counting on her forgetting about it until he was legitimately able to tell her everything.

He considered himself lucky that she didn't have her Sharingan active when he was using it, or she would have noticed something different about his chakra. He'd heard plenty of stories about how the Uchiha used to be, and was relieved that his beliefs about Mikoto were true. She was one of the more polite ones that didn't activate her Sharingan on allies.

Their second night in the same room was nearly a repeat of the first, though Mikoto simply stared at him until he climbed onto the bed. She had started up the conversation this time, asking how he felt about clan life. Being honest, he had no real opinion because when he was made aware of what clan actually meant, the Uzumaki clan was already gone. She pretty much informed him that she'd teach him everything he needed to know if he was willing to learn. He somewhat jokingly asked if that was a sort of proposal, to which she didn't say or respond to anything else that night, but simply held tightly onto his hand until she fell asleep.

The third night was her asking him about some of the missions he had when he was working for the Hokage. He stressed that there wasn't much he could talk about, but ventured back to some missions that he hoped she wouldn't know didn't happen. Well – they did for _him_in the future, but not in her past. Once again he had to skirt the full truth until he was free to tell her everything – assuming they got to that point - but for now she seemed to accept what she heard, even with the ooh's and aah's in all the appropriate places.

Naruto stopped musing about the past couple of days as he finished with his shower, thinking that they had gotten closer, but not _that_much closer. Relationships don't form out of a vacuum, though they had both definitely made large strides in getting to know each other. He chuckled to himself as he shut off the water. It was still hard to not think of the woman in the other room as Sasuke's and Itachi's mother. At least as the days had been passing, that thought popped into his head less and less.

After getting dried off and dressed, he pondered what they would discuss during their last night here, alone. They had found their targets yesterday, and Naruto had several clones keeping watch just in case they moved. Their plan was to take them out on the way back home tomorrow. Thinking of home - the blond had no idea what kind of work was waiting for him back in Konoha, not to mention thoughts of how people would react once word of Mikoto's broken engagement spread through the hidden village. Hopefully it wouldn't get blown all out of proportion, but knowing what he knew of the village from his time... it was highly unlikely. There were too many gossip-mongers.

His thoughts ceased abruptly upon his exit of the restroom, however, when he noticed that Mikoto was standing right outside the door, obviously waiting for him. Not only that, but she had changed out of the shinobi clothes she had worn for the past nights, and had actually changed into something resembling sleepwear. It was very reserved sleepwear, granted, with dark cloth long pants and a button down shirt, but it wasn't nearly as loosely worn as her shinobi gear. The thought 'female' was very firmly etched into his mind as he stared at her.

All in all it painted a very pretty picture. The fact that she was standing there, looking very demure wasn't helping Naruto's brain to restart any faster, either.

Sasuke who?

"H-How does it look?"

The blond's mouth opened and closed a few times before he shook his head and grinned. Reboot successful.

"Very nice. I'm... flattered that you'll let me see you wearing that."

Mikoto blushed, looking away and fidgeting ever so slightly, but didn't say anything further. Naruto watched as she grabbed at the lower hem of the shirt and twisted it about. Any potential thoughts of arousal from seeing her before were completely banished from his mind as he suddenly realized that she had probably no idea what to expect, obviously having never been in a relationship. In a short, painful twinge he was also reminded of Hinata, who he found out had liked him for a very long time but had no sympathetic figure to tell her what to do about it. Then she almost had to get herself killed in order to work up the nerve to tell him. Definitely not one of his better memories about the girl.

In a strange twist, a part of him wanted to blame his mother for having found his father so early, and being too happy with her own life to pay attention to her friend, but that would be very unfair. By the time she was likely old enough to understand that Mikoto wasn't happy, it would have been too late. Besides that, she had already been dealt a huge blow by the loss of Uzushiogakure, a rough childhood, and an attempted kidnapping. Add being a jinchuuriki on top of that, and it was highly likely that she was trying to only focus on the good things in life right now.

Sighing, Naruto stepped forward, apparently startling Mikoto as she went rigid and looked up at him sharply. He tried to keep his expression sympathetic and passive as he offered his hand to her.

"Mikoto-chan."

"H-huh?" She looked in confusion between his face and the hand that he was offering. One of her hands had already lifted a bit as if to take his, but had stopped halfway.

"Take my hand. Come sit with me. Let's talk for a bit." He tried to sound confident, and in his opinion he managed to pull it off. Never mind the fact that his heartbeat was rapidly starting to increase when he thought about how much the future may potentially change in these next few minutes.

Looking down and nodding once, Mikoto had immediately latched onto his offered hand, which he quickly noted felt a little cold and clammy. She probably thought he was going to pull her over to the bed, but once they walked past it and headed for the only chair in the room, he almost felt like he was pulling her along instead of her following willingly.

Trying to ignore it, he sat down in the only chair in the room. Luckily it was a larger one and was plenty comfortable, if a bit low to the ground. He carefully pulled Mikoto down onto his lap to sit sideways, only for her to let out a brief startled yelp and become stiff as a board - looking anywhere and everywhere but at him. She had released his hand, but Naruto responded by wrapping his arms around her waist as she tried to literally scramble away.

"Mikoto-chan! Mikoto-chan, calm down, please!"

His protests didn't do much at first, though when she probably realized he wasn't just going to let go, but at least not do anything further with her, she finally began to settle down. She didn't relax, though, and he could feel her trembling slightly under his hold. Guilt was starting to creep into his mind, he was sincerely hoping that she was a little more comfortable with him by this point. Even if they had only gotten to know each other much more closely over these past few days, they had known each other and been at least acquaintances – if not distant friends and sparring partners - for a few months.

Even when he tried to look at her, she made sure she was looking away. Biting back a sigh, he settled for looking at the back of her head with a frown on his face. "What's wrong? You're acting nothing like the woman I remember, the one I went hunting for nukenin with, or the one I spar with. I didn't want to startle you, but I wanted our talk to have some meaning. I'm sorry if I scared you.

Naruto resisted the urge to release her so that he could run one of his hands back through his hair. "If you want to get up, we can go talk some other time."

She stopped moving, and didn't seem to be as stiff, but was still trembling. "I'm just not... used to this."  
Her voice came out so soft, he barely heard it. But it was there, and that was all he needed.

"Being this close to a man?"

She shook her head, slowly.

"Being this close to anyone?"

Another shake, faster this time.

"Intimacy?"

Mikoto stilled again, and didn't breathe either, as if she was seriously contemplating the word. Slowly she inhaled again, relaxed a bit more. "Yes, intimacy. I've never been intimate with anyone. Like this. I'm..." She gestured at the air with her hand for a second, searching for the right word, "I don't think scared is the right word. I'm not scared of being close to you. Nervous, maybe? Other than my parents and Kushina, I never really get close to anyone."

Naruto was still frowning. Just what kind of environment was it like growing up with the Uchiha? To be scared to get close to anyone, physically and emotionally? That must suck. She always spoke like she was close to her father, though perhaps it was more respect than genuine affection? Maybe he was a comfortable closeness, whereas he was someone she was interested in and she didn't know how to express that. As for Kushina, it was likely something that Mikoto had simply adjusted to because he could tell early on that his future mother was one of those 'touchy-feely' types. The fact that Kushina was female probably kept Mikoto from having issues as well.

The blond relaxed his grip on his partner, silently hoping that she wouldn't bolt from his lap. He nearly sighed in relief when she didn't, so he let one arm go slack while his other moved up to slowly rub her arm. "We can just stay like this, until you're comfortable then?"

Mikoto nodded slowly, and they sat there in silence with him slowly rubbing her arm for a few minutes. Gradually her trembling stopped, and she was no longer completely stiff either. Eventually she even leaned her shoulder against his chest, slightly. Naruto was a little surprised, but chose not to comment, as he didn't want to completely ruin her comfort level with any jokes.

It wasn't until he felt that she was completely calm that he decided to ask how she was doing. "What I had planned to talk about might be... difficult for you to talk about if you're uncomfortable. Did you just want to call it a night? We can try to wake up early tomorrow, unless you want to call off the whole thing we had planned on."

Mikoto stiffened for barely a moment before faintly shaking her head. "No, we need... I want... to talk. To you. About anything. Everything."

"Okay. I guess I'll start then. Does Fugaku treat you well?" He knew it was a bit of a bomb to drop, but it was better to start off big then worry about the small things in discussions like this. It let him know where the conversational boundaries would lie. Doing that often came in handy dealing with shinobi from other nations who didn't enjoy taking orders from him. He would always be thankful for Shikaku teaching him the things he did.

Mikoto had stilled for several seconds before turning to look at him, though she looked more confused more than anything else. "I don't understand what you mean. He treats me as one should treat the heir to the clan."

Naruto shook his head, frowning. "Do you _want_to be treated like the heir, or do you want to be treated like a woman, as Uchiha Mikoto? Not as an object or title, but an actual human being with her own wants and desires?"

When Mikoto looked away but didn't reply, Naruto decided to continue, "The first time I saw you with him, it was right before I called you to go with us for the Kiri mission. He looked bored, and you looked... sad. I was about to ask you to go do something right then, after I gave you the mission, but I knew it wouldn't be proper. It wasn't my place.

"Though I guess if I knew then what I know now, perhaps I should have taken that chance, huh?" Naruto only meant it as a half-hearted joke, but the small smile he got to see on her face was definitely worth it.

"I don't think it would have changed anything, honestly. At least, not then." Mikoto pursed her lips, thinking carefully. "But I would have appreciated the offer, I'm sure."

Naruto couldn't help but smile at that, and finally decided it was time for him to release his hold around her waist with his other arm and lean back. Mikoto was briefly startled by this adjustment, but then seemed to muster her courage – or whatever it was she needed – and leaned to her side, against his chest again. Then, surprising him, she leaned her head forward so that her forehead rested very lightly against his jaw.

He grabbed one of her hands with his, and wrapped his other arm around the back of her waist. She didn't stiffen, this time, and even returned the grip his hand had on hers.

"So, Mikoto-chan... what is it you are looking for?"

Naruto listened as she inhaled deeply, then exhaled. "What do you mean?"

"What are you looking for in the person who you want to marry?"

She was quiet for a moment, then slowly asked, "Does that really matter?"

"Of course it matters. How else do you expect to be happy?"

There was another quiet pause, where he could only hear the sound of her breathing.

"I've never really thought about it before. I always grew up knowing what I might have to expect. Had my... mother lived longer, I might have had a sibling who could take up the leadership position of the clan. But since she didn't, the responsibility fell to me to find someone worthwhile to wed. I can say now that it wasn't exactly what I _wanted_, but in a clan like the Uchiha, certain responsibilities must be upheld."

Naruto felt horrible listening to that. Not only because of what she said, but because that was the most he'd gotten her to say at one time since they left on this mission.

"Okay, well... just forget about all that. I'm sure when you were a young girl you had dreams, right?"

Mikoto sighed. "I hardly think those matter, now."

"I think they are important. Right now, that should matter to you. Tell me... did you ever have those dreams about a prince coming to rescue you?"

Naruto's tone had a teasing lilt, which Mikoto immediately picked up on. He heard her chuckle, and a moment later her free hand whacked lightly against the center of his chest.

"No, there was never a prince. Or anyone really. I didn't need rescuing. I would be happy with someone who didn't treat me like a trophy, and who wanted children. I didn't know what having children meant at first, but even after I learned I realized I wanted my own."

Well, at least there was something Fugaku did right in his time.

"How many?"

He felt Mikoto shift against him before she answered, as if she was trying to get more comfortable. "Three. Two boys and a girl."

"Any particular order?"

He felt her head shift slightly against his in a small nod. "The boys first. They could lead the clan together." She hummed for a moment. "Then the girl. So I could dote on her and she wouldn't... have to grow up, like I did."

It sounded close to what really happened from his time, and Naruto wondered for a second why there was no third child in his time. Maybe Kurama's appearance and the blame placed on the Uchiha clan tempered that desire?

Nodding his head slightly, Naruto murmured, "That's a nice dream. I was an orphan, so I always wanted a big family."

"Oh?" She sounded intrigued and surprised, and though he couldn't see her face at the moment, Naruto wanted to imagine that she was at least grinning. "How many for you?"

"At first, I always thought two was a good number. A boy that I could teach all my killer techniques to, and a girl so that I could threaten boyfriends."

Mikoto burst out into giggles at that, and Naruto found himself loving the sound.

"Only two? That's not very big, even though you said that was what you wanted at first." She pulled her head back, probably so she could look at his face. He turned his own head slightly to look at her as she continued, "What about now?"

"Now?" Naruto broke out into a big grin. "Definitely nine."

"Nine!" Mikoto was obviously startled for a brief moment before she burst into laughter at this one. "What could possibly make you want nine?" she asked in between chuckles.

_Here's to you, Kurama. _"Oh, I don't know. I always thought it was a nice number. Eight just seemed like a strange place to stop and ten seemed like a little too much to handle, but nine seemed juuuust right."

Mikoto continued laughing, and Naruto found himself chuckling along with her. In a surprising move, he felt one of her arms snake over his shoulders, behind his neck. He turned his head to look at her, obviously surprised at this action, only to see her head resting against his shoulder as she looked... content.

"I'm surprised." He gestured at her arm. "You seemed like a nervous wreck barely a few minutes ago."

She shrugged her shoulder that wasn't resting against him. "I'm comfortable. I've never done this myself, but I've seen other people do things similar. It wasn't too hard to copy."

He grinned. "Didn't need to use the Sharingan for it?"

"No, no Sharingan needed," she said between more laughs. Thinking of her laugh, he realized it was showing up more and more, and he was grateful for it. She had laughed more today than he had ever heard her laugh in the months he had known her. That was a scary thought, because he thought Kushina and Taichi were both pretty funny. Minato wasn't a slouch either, but he didn't _try_to make people laugh like the other two did.

They were quiet for several moments as what they were talking about settled in their minds. Or at least, that was the case for Naruto. He had barely faced forward again when Mikoto spoke quietly in his ear.

"I'll give you five."

His head snapped back around, giving her a surprised look. "Five? You mean, five..."

When he didn't continue and his expression seemed to glaze over, she chuckled and grinned, apparently pleased with his reaction. "Yes. I've been in pain before, but I've heard childbirth is on an entirely different level. Assuming my health holds up, I'll promise you five. If I can handle it, then perhaps..."

Her voice trailed off, and for a moment she offered him a teasing smile which he would literally _kill_to see again.

"Perhaps I can manage nine."

Naruto was flabbergasted for barely a second before giving her a shallow smile and shaking his head. "I just like the number nine. That seems like too much to put you through, and I wouldn't expect you to go through with that. Nor even five, really."

Mikoto released the hold she had on his other hand and brought her other hand up, now clasping them both behind his neck. "Naruto, how many do you really want. Be serious, please."

While part of him felt that a talk like this was all a bit premature... they were talking about children but hadn't even kissed yet. Somewhere along the line they got the order in which things were supposed to be done all wrong. He knew he was often considered unpredictable, but this was just getting ridiculous. Grumbling to himself in his mind, he remembered that she was still waiting for an answer. It was the same answer he was prepared to tell Sakura once upon a time when he was still an optimist about the war, and perhaps even tease Kurotsuchi with one day if that had ever gotten anywhere beyond looking at each other with smoldering eyes.

Pushing the past out of his mind, he stared at Mikoto and clearly said, "As many as you'd be willing to give me."

The moment he said that, he couldn't tell for sure but something just seemed to _click_in Mikoto's eyes, and her entire demeanor changed. He felt her hands move from holding each other to literally grabbing the hair on the back of his head. Her entire body pressed firmly into his, and her hands held his head steady so that she could look directly into his eyes.

"Naruto. Help me break the contract."

The blond was quiet for a moment, staring into Mikoto's dark eyes. Moving his hand up, he rested it against her cheek, and wasn't surprised at all when her head tilted against it ever so slightly. But still she kept her eyes locked on his.

"Are you completely sure about this. I'm going to warn you again... I have a lot of secrets."

Her responding question was immediate, "Will any of them harm Konoha or the Uchiha Clan?"

Naruto's reply was almost as fast, "Not in the slightest. But other than that, I also can't promise I'd be the best father material. I mean, I didn't exactly have any parents to raise me. Having Kushina as a little sister hasn't been easy these past couple months either, I mean, can you imagine her as an _aunt_? I can barely handle her now. Oh, and on top of that, there is always-"

"Naruto."

He blinked for a moment after being suddenly cut off, looking like a Nara deer that was just caught in a flashy jutsu. "U-Uh, yes, Mikoto-chan?"

"Shut up and kiss me."

* * *

The rest of that night had ended pleasantly enough, and the pleasantness had continued into the morning and a large portion of their journey back to Konoha. While she was obviously not experienced in any way at all when it came to doing anything of a romantic or sexual nature with the opposite gender, he was greatly enjoying her expressions and attitude as it changed into what many would consider a 'giggling schoolgirl'.

She was full of laughs and smiles the entire journey back, only putting on the 'business' face once they got closer to the gate. The hardest thing for her to handle upon their arrival was finding out that he was summoned immediately to go talk to the Hokage, but a quick hug and a few whispered words of encouragement must have helped, because she couldn't hide the small smile on her face as he disappeared.

The visit to the Hokage's office was a quick one, he simply reported that he had returned and that apparently both of his missions were successful. There was a nod, followed by a comment that the skirmishes were picking up in intensity and he should make sure he was in peak condition. That done, he quickly ventured to his office to find that there wasn't nearly as much paperwork to take care of as he had been thinking there would be. Either someone helped him out a bit or there really wasn't a lot that happened while he was gone.

By the time he had nearly eliminated the pile on his desk, Naruto wasn't sure how much time had passed, but it must have been a lot since the sun was almost setting when there was a quick rapping noise on his door. It was the first time he had been 'disturbed' all day, much to his surprise.

"Come in."

The door opened and Naruto looked up, raising an eyebrow when he saw his future father, Minato, enter the room. After exchanging greetings, the two of them simply stared at each other before the corner of Naruto's mouth started to twitch upwards.

"Is there something you wanted?"

Minato seemed hesitant to speak for some reason, but eventually shrugged and then rubbed the back of his neck as he chuckled, though it sounded half-hearted at best. "Yeah, sorry. I was just wondering...do you know what's up with Mikoto?"

Naruto immediately dropped the scroll in his hands onto his desk and stood up. "What? What happened to her?"

The other blond shook his head, now frowning outright, if not looking a little panicked. "I don't know! I was hoping you did! Kushina and I were just getting ready to go get dinner as she showed up at Kushina's apartment. She looked like she was both furious and about to burst into tears, but wouldn't tell me anything so I still don't know what happened! I'm just glad to see that you don't seem to be the cause."

Naruto wasted no time in grabbing his vest from the back of his chair. The rest of the work he needed to do could wait until tomorrow. "Well, I'm just as curious as you to find out what the cause is. Do you know where they are now?"

Minato looked to be ready to jump into action as much as Naruto did, but was quickly shaking his head to the negative. "No idea. They have their spots where they go that I don't really bother looking for them."

"Eh, come on Minato! Haven't you been curious? Where's your sense of adventure?"

"I'm curious but not stupid." Minato's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "You haven't seen what Kushina does to those who piss her off."

Naruto could only agree to that, it was likely from the stories he had heard and from what his mother told him briefly when he encountered her in Kurama's seal that anyone who crossed her would likely never be the same again.

"Fine, but as her friends, we should be worried for her, right? I think we can use that excuse in case Kushina starts waving her fist at us. I mean, I'd go ask Kagami-san, but I'd rather use him as a last resort. Besides, he may not know either."

Minato actually stopped fidgeting and appeared to consider this for a moment before slowly agreeing. "Fine. But if we get in any trouble, I'm blaming you."

Naruto just shrugged and waved it off. If Kushina did get overly protective, hopefully Mikoto would call her off. Whatever was going on, he didn't think _he_was the cause of it. He hoped not, anyway. Otherwise he might be visiting his grave earlier than expected.

"So have you plastered your seals all around the village yet?"

"Only in the main places of the village. My usual training grounds, this building, my apartment, Kushina's place, the-"

"Oho, Kushina gets one, but I don't? I see how it is."

Minato just gave Naruto a dead stare, though the other blond just chuckled and waved it off. "Sheesh, can't take a joke? Come on, dattebayo!"

"I can appreciate jokes, I just don't think now is the time." Minato's lips were twitching upwards at the verbal tic, however. It was rather amusing for him how Kushina had become a lot more aware of her '-ttebane' tic ever since Naruto showed up.

Letting out a sigh, Naruto shook his head and held out his hand. "You're right, sorry. It's just a defense mechanism for handling my worries. Pick a place and we'll start from there."

"I understand." Grabbing Naruto's forearm, Minato made a seal with his free hand, and faster than he could blink they were both transported to a spot just behind the check-in booth at the main gate. Releasing his arm, Minato looked around as Naruto stared at the entrance to the village. Construction traffic had slowed significantly by this time of the day.

"You think they went outside the village proper?" Naruto gestured towards the entrance with his thumb.

"It's possible if they went to one of the training areas. How do you want to do this, anyway? Split up and meet back here in a half an hour?"

Naruto thought about that for barely a moment before shaking his head. "I'll send out some Shadow Clones. They'll explore for a bit and report back to me. If they have no luck then we'll go."

Minato gave him a skeptical look. "Shadow Clones? You know how much chakra they use, right?"

"Of course I do. They're one of my main techniques. I haven't really had to use them much at all lately, though."

Barely a second later nearly twenty clones appeared in a semicircle behind Naruto. He'd gotten so much practice using them that he didn't really even need to make the molding sign to create them anymore, nor did he have to announce his intentions to them. Without a word, they all immediately took off in different directions.

Naruto simply stared at a speechless Minato, who was watching the clones with wonder. He'd purposefully avoided using them in spars with his future father so that he could get some good one on one combat experience. "We'll give them about fifteen minutes. If one of them dispels, I get the memories. If I get nothing from any of them, we'll use your plan. If we take too long they may just return to Kushina's or Mikoto's place anyway."

What Naruto didn't say was that some of the clones would use Sage Mode to pinpoint their locations. Searching for Kurama - who was still sealed within Kushina - would be a walk in the park. He still had some of the bijuu's chakra sealed within him, and he figured that he could use that to resonate with the same chakra sealed in Kushina. He'd never used this particular method of searching before since this was a rather unique situation, so he hoped that she would just chalk it up to being a quirk of his sensor ability when searching for someone... at least before thinking it was weird and deserved to be looked into. Considering he didn't know what was wrong with Mikoto, however... he was willing to risk Kushina finding out.

He only heard Minato mumble something about 'that many clones' before the other teen nodded and leaned back against the pole where he had placed the seal for his technique. Naruto had prepared for them to sit in silence for a bit, but was surprised when Minato asked him a question he had not been expecting.

"Can you teach me that? I'll teach you this other technique I'm working on."

Naruto had to bite his tongue, immediately wanting to brag that he already knew Hiraishin and Rasengan, but forcefully pushed it down and away. Sometimes he still had trouble separating the man who was his father from the eighteen year-old in front of him.

"We'll have to ask the old man about it. Since it's in the Forbidden Scroll I can't teach you anything in there without permission." There was a certain allure to making his father even more of a badass with Shadow Clones, though they didn't hold up too well using the Hiraishin. He knew from experience.

"Oh. Alright, that's fair."

Naruto idly wondered if Minato was always so agreeable. If they hadn't died the day he was born, his mother probably would have worn the pants in their family. Or rather, she _would_, because he was making sure they both stuck around this time.

The two of them stood around in silence for the rest of the time they waited, both agreeing not to jump to any conclusions regarding Mikoto until they had a better understanding of the situation. Barely a few minutes later, his clones had managed to isolate Kurama's suppressed signature, and moved in closer to verify where Kushina and Mikoto were, by extension. They were at one of the more secluded training areas, sitting by a tree that was at the top of a decently sized hill.

"Found them. They're at one of the training grounds... sixteen, I think? It's outside the village behind the monument, near a few trees at the edge of a big hill."

Minato looked surprised at first, then completely shocked as Naruto was able to pinpoint it so precisely. He opened his mouth but Naruto continued talking and cut off anything he was going to say.

"I know you want me to tell you how I found them so quickly... all I can say is that it's classified right now. Other than being able to confirm that I am a type of sensor, I may be able to tell you more soon. If not, you'll definitely find out the day you put on the big hat."

The two just stared at each other for a few seconds, one incredulous, the other as if he was just speaking simple truths. Once again Minato managed to shake himself out of whatever stupor he was in, and gestured for Naruto to lead the way. Nodding quickly, he took off to the rooftops, Minato right on his heels.

Jumping quickly from rooftop to rooftop, then running up the side of the rock wall where the monument was, it didn't take long for them to arrive. As soon as they landed nearby, both Kushina and Mikoto jumped to their feet, getting ready for potential combat. Mikoto's stance was aggressively wary, while Kushina's arms relaxed the moment she laid eyes on both of them. Her posture still screamed 'stay back', however, so neither of the two males made any further steps towards the women.

"Minato! Naruto-aniki! What... how did you find us?"

Naruto could see Minato pointing at him out of his peripheral, but resisted rolling his eyes and instead pointed at his own head and said, "Sensor."

Mikoto still hadn't moved, but Kushina relaxed a little more. "I didn't know sensors could pick out two specific chakra signatures amongst a densely populated village, Aniki."

"Kushina-chan, I've already told you that both of your chakras feel different from everyone else."

The redhead grimaced a bit, but nodded in acceptance. Kurama alone made her like a beacon to him when he used Sage Mode, even when he was sealed away like now. Her own individual chakra, however, was unique as well... it was hard to describe the difference, but it felt warmer... more vibrant. He claimed it was what Uzumaki chakra felt like, but since he had no way to sense other Uzumaki, he had no idea how much truth there was to it. She seemed to accept it without complaint, though, so he let it stay that way. He vaguely recalled Karin mentioning something like that to him back when she was being interrogated in his time, but didn't really pay much attention to it back then.

"As for why we're here," Naruto jabbed his finger at Minato this time, "This guy came and dragged me out of my office, worried about Mikoto-chan."

Naruto listened with half an ear as Minato mumbled something about 'I don't _drag_' but tried to ignore it and continued speaking, "So naturally I was worried as well, having just come back from a mission with a Mikoto-chan who seemed to be in fairly good spirits. Part of me was genuinely worried while another part of me was wondering if I did something, and if I did, how much I would need to protect myself in the event I was to be struck by feminine vengeance."

Kushina hid her mouth behind one of her hands, likely to keep from smiling outright as she looked back at Mikoto. The raven-haired woman, meanwhile, had been watching Naruto talk, and appeared amused as she looked down towards the grass and shook her head. If anyone was going to say anything further, they held off as they watched Mikoto walk towards Naruto at a casual pace, and stop shortly in front of him.

"I was just getting ready to talk to Kushina about the contract, actually." Mikoto closed her eyes and took a deep breath before reopening them and continuing.

"It's broken," she declared.

Her words brought out an quiet 'huh?' from Kushina, while Minato simply remained silent and looked back and forth between the other two.

"Did it all end okay?"

Mikoto looked down at the ground again, and sighed, "Yes, though for a little while it was... difficult."

Naruto hummed for a moment, watching the woman in front of him. She seemed to be opening up a little, though he had no idea what she and Kushina had discussed so far. From the way the redhead was looking, she had no idea what Mikoto was talking about, but wasn't quite sure how to ask about it. So she was settling for watching them like a hawk instead. Minato was still standing there too, with his arms crossed over his chest. It was getting pretty dark out, but Minato's ice blue eyes seemed to be able to reflect what little light there was to the point they appeared to be glowing.

He idly wondered if his own eyes did that. There were more important things to worry about right now though.

"Did you want to talk about it?"

Mikoto looked into his eyes again, and a small smile twitched at the corners of her lips. That was a good sign.

"Yes, but I'd like a hug first."

Naruto pretended to be affronted, placing a hand on his chest. "_What?_You want a hug before you'll tell me anything? Blasphemy!"

His teasing was a good idea, as the twitching of her lips lifted into a full smile Naruto acted as though that helped him to make up his mind quickly. "Look at that smile. Tch, fine. You win. Get over here."

As he opened his arms and grinned, Mikoto nearly launched herself against him, though not nearly at the full speed she was capable of. He did have to take a slight step backwards to brace himself, but quickly recovered. As he felt her arms wrap around his waist, he mumbled into her ear, asking if she really was alright.

"Mmm. I'm fine now."

Anything else that may have been said between them was cut off as a squeal sounded behind Mikoto, right about where Kushina was standing.

"Mikoto-nee! Naruto-aniki!" In a flash - a red one, not yellow - she appeared next to them, her eyes wide. "Both of you! _Spill. Now._"

Mikoto released Naruto first, stepping back slightly, and turned to look at her longtime friend. "Naruto helped me break the contract I was in."

Kushina raised a hand to her mouth again as she gasped, while Minato moved over a bit and continued the pseudo-interrogation.

"How did that happen? I mean, I knew you weren't into contracts and all that, but... I didn't think an Uchiha contract could be broken."

Mikoto strongly shook her head negatively, her long ponytail whipping back and forth. "There are ways it can be broken, but most of them revolve around death or something else bad happening. The easiest way was for me to have someone else's chakra residue in mine when I went to place my chakra in the seal I told you about. If it was an enemy's that would be one thing, but as it is the chakra of a fellow Leaf nin who isn't a medic..."

As Mikoto's voice trailed off, Minato's eyes widened, immediately understanding. Kushina, on the other hand, didn't look as though she quite understood. Apparently Mikoto was used to explaining things of this manner, as she didn't even wait for the question to come before she started answering it.

"It means that we had to do a lot of... um... kissing... so that his chakra would be absorbed into mine. Apparently Naruto has very strong chakra, because it gave a reading like if we had... uhh... you know. His chakra had completely melded with mine, pretty much over ninety percent of my body." She turned a curious eye to the blond, who merely grinned and shrugged.

Kushina was standing there, starry-eyed now as she looked between the two of them, while Minato was smiling in a more resigned way and rubbing at his forehead. Naruto was pretty sure that Mikoto was likely blushing crimson by now, but it was dark enough that he couldn't really tell.

He chuckled, and tried to get some of the attention off of her. "Sorry, it must have made it awkward for you."

The strained smile that Mikoto gave him immediately silenced any further laughter that would have escaped him, and nearly made him regret his attempt.

"It was... difficult, for a little while. Fugaku said some things that I did not appreciate. I almost attacked him before my father stopped me and sent me to Kushina, saying he would take care of things."

Naruto winced at that, but before he could say anything, Mikoto grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. "We can talk about it later. I don't want to dwell on it right now. I just want to spend time with my friends."

"Well, we can do that. Right guys?"

Kushina quickly nodded, and moved up to grab Mikoto's other hand, sending questions about how it all happened at a mile a minute. Minato, on the other hand, moved over closer to Naruto's side, while eying where Naruto and Mikoto's hands were still connected.

"You do realize that I've known Mikoto since I was nine, right?"

Naruto nodded, slowly.

"So she's like a sister to me in every way but blood. I don't know what's going on, but if you hurt her..."

Minato wasn't trying to look menacing, but he didn't have to. His voice conveyed enough. Before Naruto could agree or disagree – not that he ever would – Mikoto's voice cut in.

"While I appreciate it, I can handle myself Minato. If there is anyone that I would rather you beat up, it is Fugaku."

"Just point me in the right direction," Kushina growled. She made a motion of rolling up imaginary sleeves and looking ready to kill.

Mikoto offered an unladylike snort and rolled her eyes, gave Naruto's hand another squeeze, and immediately turned her focus back to Kushina. "None of us will be doing anything. My father will be handling it. If necessary, I will think up a suitable revenge later."

Kushina didn't look happy at that announcement, if the pout on her face was any indication. However, she did grudgingly nod, accepting what Mikoto said. Minato, on the other hand, simply looked relieved that Kushina wasn't going to go on a rampage.

"Now... I'm sorry I interrupted both of you earlier. You can go back to what you were doing. Thank you for coming with me, Kushina, even if we didn't talk for long."

A small smile flickered across the redhead's face, but it didn't last long before concern took over. "Are you sure you're going to be okay? I'm sure Minato wouldn't mind if you came to dinner with us tonight."

Naruto glanced at Minato, curious to see what kind of response he would have to this, but the other blond's face showed he was nothing but concerned for Mikoto. Which made sense, considering they were genin teammates.

"It's fine, thank you. I need to talk to Naruto about a few things anyway."

"Fine, fine." Kushina waved one hand about, acting exasperated. "I know when I'm not needed. But I will be hunting you down for details tomorrow, Mikoto-nee. Count on it."

Mikoto simply nodded, offering her best friend a little smile. Kushina grinned back, then grabbed Minato's arm and started forcefully dragging him away. He nearly stumbled, but quickly regained his balance and waved over his shoulder at the other two as he tried to keep pace with Kushina.

Naruto waited until they were out of sight before saying anything.

"So... do you want to talk about it, or would you rather go get dinner?"

"We should probably talk first, so this way I can stop you without having to jump over a table," Mikoto sighed.

"That bad, huh?"

He felt as Mikoto squeezed his hand that she was still holding. "Honestly, it wasn't that bad at all, at least not until the very end. Fugaku didn't seem surprised that I had broken the contract, which just made me sad and believe he was only interested in me for my position anyway. I gather that many of the clan in the same room were thinking the same thing."

"I'm guessing your council wasn't that pleased?"

Mikoto snorted, a wry grin on her face. "I would hardly call them a council, they're more like a bunch of old men that have nothing better to do now that they are retired. But no, they weren't pleased. Especially because my father did something similar when he wanted to marry my mother a little over twenty years ago."

"The grocery lady, right? He mentioned her."

"Yes, the grocery lady," Mikoto chuckled slightly, and moved closer to Naruto, wrapping her arm around his and pressing their sides together. "Thanks to that most of them immediately blamed my father for it, and are afraid that it has now started a precedent."

Naruto hummed out a response, thinking it best to just let her talk for now. She must have appreciated it, because as Mikoto continued to speak she moved to grab one of his arms, pinning his bicep against her chest as they stood nearly shoulder to shoulder while looking at each other. They were just about the same height, so when Naruto had turned his head to look at her, he found himself staring right into her dark eyes.

"Fugaku was one of the first to leave. As he passed me, he said he felt shame for our clan, that the heir was so desperate she had to whore herself out to one of the Hokage's stooges."

Naruto's first instinct was to storm off and go show Fugaku a thing or two about being a gentleman through the use of several pointy objects, but when trying to move it quickly became apparent that he wouldn't be going anywhere – at least not without Mikoto, or if he was willing to lose an arm. She was holding onto his arm from before rather fiercely now and the way she was just staring at him led him to believe he wasn't going to be going anywhere. She already _knew_that what she said would set him off. It didn't take long for him to calm down after that.

"Are you sure you don't have the Sharingan already?" Mikoto's voice was a whisper.

"Certain. Why?"

"Your eyes flashed red for a moment there. It just made me wonder."

As if he was trying to hide it after the fact, he closed his eyes and looked down. "It's... one of my special abilities. I'll tell you soon. I promise."

Mikoto didn't look too happy at first, but then slowly nodded. She still didn't release his arm, though. "I'm guessing you were planning on doing something about Fugaku?"

His eyes opened again, looking at her. "Yes."

"Don't," Mikoto sighed. "My father and his advisers will take care of him for saying what he shouldn't."

Naruto couldn't help but frown. "I don't like it... but if that's what you want..."

"It is. Thank you for coming to my defense, though." The grip on his arm eased slightly, but not by much.

The blond felt his anger start to ebb away as he tried to put it out of his mind. He wouldn't forget, but he could ignore it. For now.

Feeling a twinge in his stomach, he placed his free hand over it. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. I was stuck in my office all day and I wanted to get everything done before I ate."

His current companion nodded slightly, giving him a small smile. "I am too, now that you mention it."

"Want to stop by a restaurant?"

Mikoto hummed for a second, then shook her head. "No, just something simple and filling would suffice. It's been a long day and I don't feel like going home to get changed."

"Sounds good." A grin began to crawl over Naruto's face. "Hey, I know Kushina might have already dragged you there before, but there is this up and coming stand which serves ramen that is to die for..."

* * *

**A/N**: Not nearly as long a wait this time, Netinho! Really!

This and next chapter are the last two of the second arc, which focuses on Naruto and Mikoto's budding relationship. This chapter and part of next is essentially the climax of the arc, followed immediately by the aftermath. Chapter 12 starts arc three.

On another note, I'm thinking of making a blog to post some random stuff, as well as put review responses there instead of junking up fic chapters. But I don't know if it would be worth it because people may or may not (more likely) bother looking in the first place. Meh. With all the changes they are doing here, I wonder if they'd consider adding Author Journals or somesuch.

Also, I am once again completely blown away by the responses to this fic. Thank you all SO much for your comments, encouragements, and constructive criticisms. 113 this time, beating my previous 'record', which was... last chapter. Heh. I don't know why but I just can't help but count them.

In other news, the next chapter of Experiments will be posted in the next day or so, as soon as my betas finish with it.

Review responses:

Sasuke, Itachi, et al - Needless to say, there won't be anyone unaffected by the changes. I won't spoil anything, but even if people from his generation are given the same name, there is no way in hell they will be the same person Naruto used to know.

Minato's Team - Will definitely be appearing eventually. Any more info, you'll have to wait and see.

Orochimaru - Not going to spoil it! I know folks are going to get so tired of reading that, but I want to let you know I'm reading the reviews but I REALLY don't want to spoil how things are going to go down. Sorry. I can tell you that Orochimaru's 'moment' is in Chapter 13, so you can look forward to it.

Weekly - Yes, I really update this weekly. This is chapter 10, so there are 8 weeks left of chapters. Unless I decide to add another chapter or two, which is always a possibility. So for some of you (like Mini-Mi) I don't need to stop writing anything else... because this is already done. I'm spacing out the postings by a week so that just in case I need to edit or change something based on feedback, my chance to do so isn't closed off. Besides, I think posting a chapter every week gives those who follow something to look forward to. I don't know about others, but to me it feels like I've been scraping the bottom of the barrel to find good things to read on this website lately, and even updates don't arrive like they used to.

Sealing Mikoto - Naruto knows that Danzo hasn't started ROOT yet, and is not about to give the man ideas if he can avoid it.

Zabuza/Mei's BF - Nope, just someone random. Zabuza doesn't have a bloodline, and is still in Kiri. Zabuza always struck me as being younger than Mei, just in general. Not that there is a problem with that, but she's in her late 30's in Shippuuden where I place Zabuza at closer to Kakashi's age, late 20's to early 30's. The age difference now would just be uncomfortable. She's 17, Zabuza is probably about 7 to10.

Fugaku - (This is mostly a short-ish response to one huge review that I couldn't reply to personally as it was a guest review) I took some liberties with him, obviously, as this is a fanfic. He may have been a loving father, even if he didn't know how to show it properly. As a reminder/notice - I had most of this fic already typed and done by the time Fugaku's updated execution scene was shown in canon, and I didn't really feel the need to go and change anything. The Fugaku of right now is quickly approaching his prime and is definitely interested in prestige and power. There is roughly 16 years between now and the Uchiha Massacre - the man would have had plenty of time to change and become the Fugaku everyone knows. Don't worry, he's not going to disappear from the story completely. That's not to say he'll have any large parts, either. (btw, draconus... wow, great minds think alike)

Tsunade - Naruto calls her 'old hag' just like he calls Jiraiya 'pervy sage' because it's habit. Ever had something you say habitually and may not even realize it? Naruto has the same issue. That's not to say he won't get trounced if he keeps it up. Tsunade might be a bit more lenient since she isn't as concerned about her age right now like she was in his future. Still, she won't appreciate it.

Tragedy - While I can't say that there will necessarily be 'tragedy', at least not the way I'm thinking about it - the first 'hiccup' appears next chapter. The next true issue/roadblock will be during the third arc of this story, and Tobi starts to appear. Naruto is strong, certainly - but Tobi is a very unpredictable opponent. An opponent that will be very, very curious about someone who is countering his every move.

'til next week for those of you who only follow this.

For those who follow Experiments, I will likely be seeing you again in a couple days.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"_Excuse me, Commander General? Do you have a moment?"_

_Naruto looked up from his desk, relieved for the distraction even if he'd never admit it. The Mizukage was leaning slightly inside the flap to his command tent, looking at him expectantly._

"_Of course__, Mizukage-sama. Come in."_

_Nodding quickly, the graceful woman moved into the tent, sealing the flap behind her and then performing a brief hand sign to enable the privacy seals. The seals were known between all of the Kage and Jonin Commanders for when they needed to make tough decisions. Unfortunately they were the only two combat-capable Kages remaining, since the others were either dead, crippled, or missing._

"_We're alone now, Naruto. Since it's just the two of us, I think we know and respect each other enough that we can use our names."_

_One of the blond's eyebrows raised a bit as he looked at her curiously for a moment, but he decided to go along with it since there was no real reason to refuse. They were fairly close due to necessity more than any real desire to be, at least from his perspective. There was no denying that Mei was a very attractive woman, but due to the way he grew up (not to mention his mentors) he was firmly of the 'look but don't touch' mindset._

_Unless they wanted to be touched, that is._

"_If... that's what you desire, Mei," Naruto said, leaning back in his chair._

_He waited for her to acknowledge him using her name and then explain what she wanted to talk about, but the slightly older woman was staring off into space, an almost... dreamy, he guessed... look on her face. Naruto wasn't sure what was going on, so he cleared his throat in hopes of getting her attention. When that didn't work, he shrugged and went back to checking assignments, figuring she'd talk when ready._

_It was nearly a full minute later when he heard her move, and he spotted her hands resting on the other side of his desk over the edge of one of the papers he was looking at in his hands. Upon looking up, he paused for barely a moment as she was leaning over the desk and her cleavage was almost perfectly eye-level. Knowing better than to linger, he kept looking up, and almost did a double-take at the rather sensuous look she was staring at him with._

"_Naruto..." she began with such a breathless voice it sent shivers down his spine, "There are many things that I desire, and hearing my name spoken by you is a simple one that you have now fulfilled. I have another desire, however, and that is to go back to Mist as I have been hearing some rumors that I feel need my attention."_

_The blond frowned internally, trying to keep his face impassive as he leaned back in his chair. If she went, that would pretty much leave him as one of the last remaining of the Kages. Sure, the Raikage was still around to a certain degree but since he had been crippled he had gone back to Cloud weeks ago, spending his time gathering as much intelligence as possible while shoring up the village's few remaining defenses. As the days dragged on, however, the ability to gather knowledge dwindled as more and more people succumbed to the Red Moon. Not to mention that a report from Kumo was nearly two weeks overdue._

_Moving forward and propping his elbows on his desk, he rested his chin against his fists and looked up at Mei's face, trying to avoid looking at her obvious presentation. She was literally leaning halfway across his desk now, and her arms were pushing together against her chest to make it stand out even more. He was sorely tempted to stare, to hell with any consequences... but he had a sneaking suspicion that Mei would let him get away with doing almost anything. As for the reason why... he was still trying to piece that together._

"_How long do you think you'll be gone?" he asked._

"_As long as necessary," was her immediate response._

_He couldn't help sigh. "That means I'll probably never see you again."_

"_Yes, that is something I had considered. I felt I should at least give you the opportunity to try to convince me out of leaving, if you feel it is necessary."_

_Naruto let his head tilt forward as he closed his eyes. He really couldn't think of any reason to keep her here – it was already a war of attrition, sometimes it only felt like they were delaying the inevitable. Tobi's thralls had them outnumbered one hundred to one already, and it was only going to get worse. The only real advantage they had is that they could still think for themselves, whereas the thralls pretty much had to be controlled by Tobi, and even he could only control so many at a time._

_All attempts at tracking Tobi down to finish him or destroying obelisks powering the genjutsu had been fruitless. Efforts were now being made to find alternatives, and a tip from the recently desceased Tsuchikage seemed to be the best bet. The hardest thing now was getting to Uzushiogakure – the remains of it, anyway – while trying to keep hidden what they were looking for._

_Opening his eyes and leaning back in his chair once again, he nodded at Mei, who had since stood up again but now had her arms folded under her breasts as she stared at him with her uncovered eye. He squelched the sudden burst of curiosity that he always got when he wondered why she kept her other eye hidden._

"_Well, it will be a shame to lose one of the best and most beautiful kunoichi we have, not to mention that you're Mizukage. But I understand where you're coming from, if we were far from Konoha and I heard negative rumors I'd want to check on them too. Good luck, and hopefully we'll meet again."_

_Her posture changed immediately, from somewhat relaxed to rigid, and instead of staring off into space like last time, her head tilted forward enough so that he could no longer see her eye. He was about to ask if something was wrong, but she spoke before him._

"_Did you... did you... what you said, did you really mean that?"_

"_Uhm," Naruto was trying to figure out what her problem was, if it was a problem, so honesty was likely the best approach. "Yes, I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it."_

"_I'm really... beautiful?"_

_The blond's mouth opened and closed wordlessly for a second before he nodded, and snorted out that 'anyone who doesn't think so is obviously blind'. It didn't take much thought on the matter in the first place. They were only about a decade and a half apart in age, no big deal for shinobi - and if he actually had some free time he might have asked her to go get dinner sometime; dinner that wasn't ramen, too. The more he thought about it though, the more ironic it was, because if it wasn't for the war changing his personality and having them work together, he probably never would have met her in the first place. At least not until he made Hokage under his own merits._

_Mei visibly relaxed as he mused about their current situation. She looked back up, immediately searching out his eyes. She smiled, though it was faint, and even let out a small laugh. "You're the first real man to tell me that to my face, would you believe that?"_

_He didn't, or at least wasn't sure what she meant by a 'real' man, and his face showed it. "You've got to be kidding."_

_She laughed again, though there was no humor in it. "No, I'm not. I've overheard men comment about me when they didn't think I could hear, and after threatening to kill them if they couldn't say those things to my face, it stopped completely."_

_Naruto could imagine that they likely didn't exactly speak tactfully when talking amongst themselves, Kiba was a prime example. Knowing how powerful she was, though... threatening them with death likely made them keep quite a distance._

"_Well, with how powerful you are, threatening them with death probably scared anyone off that wanted to say it directly to you."_

_She nodded slowly, then began to turn away. Naruto thought she was going to leave so he leaned over to deal with the assignments again. Her footsteps sounded like she was moving away, but then they moved closer before moving away again. Looking up he saw that the Mizukage was literally pacing back and forth inside the command tent. The blond watched her for a moment with a raised eyebrow before going back to his work yet again._

_He didn't bother timing how long she paced, but it didn't feel like very long before she had her hands on his desk again and was leaning forward. He looked up in surprise as she had leaned most of the way across the desk this time. Any further and their noses would be touching, so he slowly leaned back in his chair to give them some space._

"_Naruto."_

"_Mei," He stated her name with little inflection, wondering what in the world was going on. When he actually looked at her face now, though, she wasn't meeting his eyes, and was instead looking down as she leaned over his desk. Though he couldn't tell clearly, it looked like she was blushing._

"_I-I've never... thought about... you know... quite like this before. I... u-um, do you... want to?"_

_Naruto's mind was going a mile a minute. He had never seen Mei acting like she was now. He had an idea about what she was asking, but figured it was best to be sure._

"_Do I want to... what?"_

"_I-idiot!" She looked back up towards his face sharply, her expression a mix between anger and want. "Are you going to make me spell it out for you?"_

_Naruto bit back a chuckle, but the mirth must have shown on his face because she scowled at him, but it looked rather cute because she was clearly blushing. He wasn't the obtuse teenager he used to be anymore either, war could make a person mature quickly, and the fact that he was put in charge only sped it up more. Relationships were something he was never good at, though during war it didn't really matter. Especially not when kunoichi started coming to him because they were curious just how 'powerful' he really was._

_Needless to say, he lost the last of his innocence after rescuing what he thought was a rather timid Suna kunoichi from being killed by her squadmate who fell to the genjutsu mid-mission. He quickly found out that night she wasn't very timid at all – her thanks kept him quite occupied during what would have otherwise been free time for the next few days._

_Bringing his mind back to the present, t__he fact that he was powerful enough to be able to fluster a Kage was not lost on him. After she scowled he couldn't help but smile and retort, "No, I have a rather vivid imagination. Would you like to hear what I'm imagining right now?"_

_Mei's visible eye widened for a moment before she let out a low giggle of her own and started to climb over the desk. "No. In fact, I think you should just shut up. Otherwise... well..." Mei licked her lips, almost to his side of the desk, "...I'll have to kill you."_

_The Mizukage didn't give him a chance to say anything further anyway as she leaped at him from the desktop. His chair wasn't built to support both of them and he was only vaguely aware of his back and head hitting the ground with Mei on top of him. The small flash of pain was ignored in favor of the better feeling of her lips pressing against his, followed by her tongue entering his mouth._

_One of his last rational thoughts before instinct took over was that he was glad she had activated the privacy seal as she entered the tent. They were definitely going to need it. Though perhaps she had planned this all along..._

* * *

"Naruto-sama, here are the files you requested."

The blond turned to acknowledge and thank his 'assistant'. "That was fast, Mei-san."

The teenager with shoulder-length auburn hair gave her 'boss' a quick smile. It might have lasted longer, but Naruto didn't bother to wait and see as he quickly shuffled through the papers he had been handed. There was currently a zoning dispute between two of the lesser-known clans that had arrived in Konoha which he was trying to resolve by pulling up the original plans.

"Well, you did ask me to file everything pertaining to the new clans, remember? It's only natural that I remember where I put things."

Naruto tossed the younger girl a brief grin before focusing on the sheets of paper once again. She had been hovering around him more than usual for some reason since he got back from his mission. He hadn't really heard any rumors surrounding himself and Mikoto yet, but that didn't mean there weren't any out there that he wasn't aware of.

Refocusing his thoughts on the papers in his hands again, sometimes he felt having to do all this stuff was a real nightmare, but unfortunately he had pretty much brought all this on himself by getting the clans into Konoha in the first place. Even though the mission was technically a success, he had to hand it for Sarutobi pulling one over on him when he had asked for Naruto to handle the arrivals.

This was a logistical _nightmare_.

Lately he'd found himself missing his somewhat-innocent youth, having not to worry about anything but people giving him the cold shoulder. Now though? They _all_ wanted his attention. It wasn't even this bad when he had been Hokage briefly during the war, though to be fair at that point he had plenty of capable people under him that were able to make decisions without needing his input.

He was certainly appreciative of the Terumi clan and all the help they had provided, essentially working as an 'umbrella' clan of sorts to funnel any issues through. The other clans that had left Kiri for Konoha would present issues to the Terumi clan for a potentially-speedy resolution without needing to involve other clans of Konoha, Naruto, or the Hokage himself. Unfortunately this zoning issue was one that went over the capabilities of the Terumi to solve, therefore Naruto was called upon to deal with it. If he didn't nip it in the bud now it would have to be dealt with in Konoha's General Council, and that was a whole other mess that he was hoping to completely avoid.

Konoha's General Council was pretty much what it was described as – a Council of clans that handled a large portion of the day-to-day issues of the village. Obviously there was way too much happening in a hidden village for the Hokage to handle every single issue. The military angle was taken care of by the ANBU Commander, the head of Torture and Interrogation, Jonin Commanders and various Elite Jonin in the force.

The civilians were watched over by the General Council. While the council had no say whatsoever in military matters, it was essentially the group that handled all the requests and issues from the civilian sector. Even with that, however, the Hokage still had the final say in any matters concerning the village, civilian or otherwise. It was much the same way for the Fire Lord, who appointed Governors, Mayors, and Generals to handle other towns, villages, and the country's foot soldier military... the clans of Konoha did the same for the Hokage.

While Naruto didn't remember the lesson from the Academy, he did remember Shikaku beating the lesson into his head once he was given the position of Hokage. Though the Fire Lord and Hokage of Konoha were said to be of equal footing in the power hierarchy, it all depended on how you wanted to look at it. From a pure power perspective, the Hokage won the power struggle without a doubt. A single skilled shinobi could wipe out dozens of regular foot soldiers while barely breaking a sweat. The Hokage alone could wipe out entire armies.

Yet from another perspective, a hidden village could only last so long without proper funding. Funding that the Fire Lord was able to provide. Essentially the hidden villages were paid protection to the countries they were located in. Some may see it as a bribe, while Naruto tended to see it in a more pragmatic light. The village needed the funds to survive, and in turn protected the source where those funds came from.

It went without saying that the Lords of their respective countries were rather... dismayed... whenever armed conflict between villages happened, because the entire country got dragged into it whether they wanted to or not. No smart Lord was going to abandon their own hidden village. The only country that even came close one time was Wind, but that was mostly because Sandaime Kazekage was missing without a replacement for a long time and the Yondaime was seen as too young and incapable. More and more business had been granted to Konoha, up until the failed invasion. If not for his eventual friendship with Gaara, Naruto knew – Sunagakure may have eventually been abandoned.

Naruto looked around for a moment, heading towards one of the construction groups where the two clan representatives still looked to be bickering. The one thing he didn't really care for about representatives like these is that while they were arguing for what they felt was best for their clan, they typically weren't the leaders of said clans, nor were they in any real position of authority. They just argued to see who could get fed up first, then left to report to whoever was in charge. The same kind of things happened in General Council meetings all the time. Luckily there were some ways to stop it, especially once the higher authorities in the council got involved.

There were three levels to the General Council, though some joked that there were three and a half because of the Hokage's advisers, made up of the ANBU and Torture and Intelligence heads, the Jonin Commander, and anyone else of the Hokage's choosing. Sarutobi had chosen his old teammates and Shimura Danzo. Naruto had chosen Nara Shikamaru and Shizune. While the Hokage was at the top of the tier and had the final say in everything, those closest to the Hokage could certainly have an effect on swaying opinion.

The second tier was made up of Konoha's five strongest clans. The Uchiha, Hyuuga, Inuzuka, Aburame, and the Nara. Three of the clans (Hyuuga, Inuzuka, Aburame) formed the backbone of Kononha's Hunting and Tracking division, while the Uchiha pretty much staffed two-thirds of the Konoha Military Police. The Nara were the main suppliers of over half of Konoha's medical goods stockpile thanks to the huge forest preserve they maintained.

The bottom tier was the lesser clans – they were technically the ones who handled most of the day-to-day issues. People from all walks of life from the lowest beggar to civilian entrepreneurs championed their causes before any one of the lower clans, offering things from future services to discounts to specialized goods so that the lesser clan would either deal with an issue directly or go to the General Council for resolution. The clans all managed to check each other so that no one went out of control, but just in case one did, either one of the second tier clans would step in... or in some extreme cases, even the Hokage would.

In most cases, members of the General Council were the leaders of their clan, but those that chose not to often had clan members elect from within to represent them in the council. The last clan to be promoted to the second tier was the Nara about two years ago, while the Terumi had just been added to the council on the lowest tier right before Naruto had left on his mission with Mikoto.

This little spat, however, had gone beyond anything the Terumi clan was capable of solving directly. Hence his current presence. The General Council could have solved it, certainly... but not within any reasonable time frame.

"For the last time, it had already been decided before you even showed up what our boundary would be! It isn't fair for you to come along and change it now!"

"Be that as it may, it was also stated that the boundaries would be adjusted as needed depending on population requirements. You are aware that our clan members outnumber yours by quite a margin."

"Only when you include those families who are in service to your own clan! If you only count legitimate members of the Housen, then you have less members than us!"

"Now see here-"

Naruto let their voices fade out slightly as he watched them continue to bicker. The poor construction foreman nearby was leaning against a crate which looked to have building plans scattered about on top of it. His face was covered by one of his other hands as his head slowly shook back and forth, likely getting rather upset about how this whole thing was playing out.

The two clans involved were the Housen and the Kyomizu. Both were relatively skilled with water techniques, though in different ways. The trait that the Housen clan had allowed them to manipulate water in living things, though it only worked well on plants. Many people mistook this ability as one that allowed them to control plants directly, and when they were introduced to Hiruzen, he nearly mistook them for having a bastardized version of mokuton. One of the things that they used their skills for quite often was to build boats, housing, furniture, and weapons, as they could manipulate wood in ways a carpenter could only imagine. With forests surrounding their new home, it was very easy for them to fit right in, and they were already popular with construction crews.

The Kyomizu had the ability to manipulate water in such a way as to make it 'hard', causing it to take on a rather crystalline appearance, likely making any random opponent think it was something other than water. They could essentially make it solid without having to freeze it, like the Yuki clan did. Unlike the Housen clan though, their ability was typically only combat oriented, like most of the other arrivals from Kiri.

"Excuse me, honorable representatives. May I speak?"

The two immediately stopped arguing and looked at him. The Housen representative immediately mellowed out, while the Kyomizu member simply looked even more exasperated.

"I'm sorry you had to come out here, Uzumaki-sama, but as I'm sure you heard we are having a bit of a disagreement. My colleague here feels that they aren't-"

"Hey! Don't go speaking for me! You should know that-"

"Silence!" Naruto shouted, projecting a small amount of killing intent to make sure that the order was followed. Both representatives immediately closed their mouths and turned to face him again, paling as they did so. Naruto had no idea if they were civilians or shinobi, but either way they were giving him a headache.

"Before I kindly asked if I could speak, not if someone would speak for me. This time, however, I will tell you that I _am_ speaking. Do I make myself clear?"

The Kyomizu representative shakily nodded his head, but the Housen one opened his mouth to speak again. Naruto cut him off with a shushing gesture.

"Shh. You don't need to say anything at this point. Just shut up and listen."

When both of them remained silent, he continued.

"Since I've heard it's been nearly an hour and neither of you has been able to reach a mutual decision, and the Terumi clan cannot make a decision like this without further input from someone who is allowed to, I was called in to assist. Both of you know who I am – I'm the best you're going to get short of talking to Hokage-sama, so I'll be making your decision for you."

This time the Kyomizu member looked about ready to say something, but quickly shut his mouth again when Naruto simply stared at him. The blond offered the man a sardonic smile. "Good. If you had said anything, I may just let this whole issue go languish in council proceedings for a month or more. Then when your clan heads come to you for explanations, you can tell them why."

Grumbling, Naruto walked over to the crate where the building plans were, noticing the foreman quickly moving out of the way. The blond simply nodded at the man, who returned the gesture with a shaky smile. Pulling out two sheets of paper from his own small stack, Naruto waved them at the representatives before slamming them down on top of the wooden box. There was a slight cracking noise from one side of the crate, and Naruto had to hold back a wince. He wasn't hurt, but he hadn't meant to slam his hand down that hard. Poor box.

Making sure his features were set in a neutral mask, he turned back to look at the representatives once again. "Here are both of the original agreements, written and signed by your respective clan heads. In the event of any disputes regarding clan boundary lines, an arrangement shall be made that will not inconvenience either clan. From looking at the plans and the boundary lines that you both want adjusted, I can give you two options."

Gesturing them over, they quickly scuttled over to the the crate, with the construction foreman following. Pointing at the lines with the various boundary lines, Naruto gestured at the first one. "Now, if I'm reading this correctly, the Kyozumi want this line?"

Seeing the representative nod, Naruto continued, "Very well, then that means the Housen want the other line, which is reasonable, but not really needed as this land is technically being set aside for clan members only. Any sub-houses or clans are responsible for their own accommodations, which either have been built already or are in the process of being built now. If you want to have them in a clan-specific area, then your clan is more than welcome to buy further land or buildings in and around Konoha, as the Terumi and Kaguya have done.

"So here are your options. First, going by what I've said, you can leave the lines as they are. Secondly, you can take the area between the two specified lines and consider it joint-clan territory. How you want to run it and build things there will be up to your clan leaders, but it is an open option of no other agreement can be made. I would have ruled in favor of the Kyozumi, but since you decided to modify the boundaries as well more in your favor as a response to the Housen, I won't.

"Those are your two options gentlemen, work together, or go back to the original plan. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out which one to pick. Though if this issue makes its way back into my office again, I'll have all the other clans that arrived here with you decide your fate."

When he finished talking to the now-abashed representatives, he gestured for the foreman to approach. The man did, if a bit slowly. Naruto simply shot the worker a disarming smile, hoping to ease any tension. "Give them the rest of the day to figure this one out, eh? I figure they'll need to speak to their respective heads anyway. You and your men can have the rest of the day off, report back tomorrow."

The foreman immediately smiled and thanked the blond, swiftly moving off to let his workers know. Without another word, Naruto started walking away, weaving through various bits of construction and doing cursory examinations of new buildings he passed. His mind was currently a mix of thoughts, most of which were revolving around hope that he made the right decision regarding those two. He'd seen way to many circular arguments like that in the past that would get nowhere because neither side wanted to back down.

Sighing to himself, Naruto figured he might as well get something to eat since it was well past noon and he hadn't eaten yet. Maybe there was a chance he could stop by the Uchiha district later when he finished work and see if Mikoto wanted to go do something.

After a few minutes of wandering, a light breeze brought with it the sent of freshly cooked ramen, and the blond's mouth immediately started watering. From where he was approaching, he could see the stand ahead, and it looked like there was someone with red hair sitting there. Since the only person he knew of in the village with bright red hair like that was Kushina, he went ahead and called out for her.

"Hey, Kushhwaaa-"

In the middle of calling out for her, his arm was grabbed and he was pulled into one of the nearby small alleys. Shinobi instincts immediately began to kick in as he tried to twirl out of the way, but in the process of trying to move his back hit the stone wall of one of the buildings. Preparing to jump out of the way, he only stopped for a second when his eyes finally settled on just who it was that had pulled him into the alley.

"Mei-san? What are you doing?"

She still had a grip on his arm, and grabbed his other wrist without him resisting. The look on her face was one that he had seen directed at him before from her... though many years in her future.

"Naruto-sama... you were amazing back there."

"Back... back there? You mean with the representatives?"

"Yes." Mei murmured, before pressing her body up against his. Unlike Mikoto, who was the same height as he was, Mei was a few inches shorter, like Kushina, and he found himself trying not to look down at her.

"Mei-san, what are... t-this isn't right."

"It isn't?" Mei's voice sounded more amused than anything else. "I know you've been looking at me. You have a hard time being discreet. Imagine how sad I was when I realized that you stopped looking at me this past week."

Naruto found himself gritting his teeth. She had been with someone, so of course he stopped. Not only that, but he was with Mikoto now. What happened to the shy girl he had gotten to know who had been helping him out for weeks? If it was just an act... damn she was a good actress. Maybe that's how she got the Mizukage spot, her cunning in addition to her bloodline releases would make her a formidable enemy for anyone to face.

Naruto tried not to sigh, instead opting for trying to convince her to take the high ground. "Mei-san, you _were_ with someone, I stopped looking – as you put it – when I found out. Not only that, I'm with someone now."

He heard Mei snort. "That man asked me out, thinking I was a timid little girl that he could show the ropes. Let's just say that I showed him a thing or two when he tried to go further than I was willing. As for you being with someone... well, I want to prove that I'm better."

Naruto couldn't help himself, he looked down to give the young woman an incredulous look. There was more going on here than he and Mikoto dating on a whim, and besides, he wasn't that kind of person.

As he opened his mouth to state as much, Mei took the initiative and moved forward again, pressing her lips against his in a hard kiss. Naruto could only stand there in shock, eyes wide, as he felt her tongue momentarily brush against his. As soon as he got his bearings and prepared to push her away, the pressure against his body and lips was gone, replaced by a sudden shriek that made him wince at the volume.

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and then frowning, Naruto looked to see what happened. He stopped looking around, completely shocked to see a mane of red hair that was waving about in front of him, separated into nine equal parts. Terror immediately struck him, only for relief to immediately follow when he realized that she wasn't facing him. From what he could see around Kushina, Mei was staring at the redhead in mixed parts fear and anger as she rubbed the side of her head. Apparently Kushina had pulled her by the hair, at least in part.

"I heard everything! What are you doing to Naruto-aniki?" Kushina growled out.

Mei's eyes widened for a moment before she frowned. "Aniki? I wasn't aware he had any siblings."

Kushina's hair stopped waving about, and even though Naruto couldn't see her face, her voice was sounding smug. "I'm Uzumaki Kushina. You may have heard of me by another name." Once again her voice dropped down into a growl.

"Konoha's Red-Hot Habanero."

Recognition did dawn on Mei's face, though it was quickly masked by amusement. As the other young woman slowly climbed to her feet. Naruto saw her step into a stance that he recognized, it was one she often took up when she was getting ready to spew one of her bloodline techniques.

"Red hot, you say? I wonder just how hot." Mei's mouth was open slightly as she talked so that it looked like her tongue was a glowing orange color, not to mention the smoke that was starting to exit from the sides of her mouth. The smoke itself was of a bluish-green tint, so that was definitely the telltale sign of her boil technique – what the Terumi clan was known for. However she had not unlocked the lava technique yet, at least not that he knew of... so was it beginning to show itself in an unconscious manner?

He didn't get an opportunity to think upon it any further as Kushina was about ready to return the challenge. The blond could feel both Kushina's and Kurama's chakra spiking... at least until Naruto put a hand on her shoulder.

"Kushina-chan, Mei-san, stop."

Kushina's head turned to look at his hand, and then briefly at him with an upset expression before facing her opponent once again. "But Aniki!"

"No buts. Stop. You too Mei-san. We don't need a scene, and you spitting out steam will definitely cause one."

He heard Kushina gasp and mumble next to him as he took a step forward around her. Naruto stared at Mei, who was looking back and forth grumpily between him and the redhead. Growling, she shook her head before her cheeks puffed up and she spit out a reddish-brown glob onto the ground nearby. It quickly cooled, turning black; she was further along in her new technique than Naruto realized.

He was tempted to ask about it, but decided to clarify the situation instead before things got out of and. "Yes, Kushina is my little sister. She was stopping you because, like I said, I'm seeing someone now. I admitted already that I was interested in you before I saw you with someone else, but I stopped immediately after. You always struck me as shy, so I was planning on getting to know you a little better by having you as my assistant before I asked. I guess that's just how life works though."

Mei was clearly frowning and had folded her arms under her chest, pushing it up slightly. "So wait, you were interested in me before that other guy asked me?"

Naruto nodded slowly.

"Who are you with now?"

Naruto glanced over to Kushina, who was still staring at the auburn haired girl, looking aggressive. Letting his gaze drift back over to Mei, he answered her, "Uchiha Mikoto."

"An Uchiha? Seriously?"

Once again, Naruto nodded slowly. Instead of being upset, angry, or any other reaction he had expected her to have, she instead grinned and pointed at him. "Hah, I bet I can win you over from her! I know the Uchiha are strong but she can't threaten me by copying my techniques and using them against me! You tell her that she now has Terumi Mei as her competition for the heart of Naruto-sama!"

Naruto found himself gaping in disbelief, and it was up to Kushina to try to make her stop. "Naruto-aniki is already with Mikoto-nee! You can't interfere with that!"

Mei had turned to run off, but stopped short, turned around, and stuck her tongue out at Kushina. "Who cares! In my opinion, until he's married, he's still available!" When she finished, she looked at Naruto and winked. "See you tomorrow, Naruto-sama!"

Naruto could only stare, still completely dumbfounded as Mei ran around the corner. As he began to pull out of his slight stupor, he idly noted all the other people that had been around, observing the incident, and were now whispering among themselves. It wasn't too hard to notice occasional glances of pity and jealousy from both males and females.

"Well, Kushina-chan... I guess I should warn Mikoto-chan. What do you think?" When he didn't get an answer, he turned to look where she was last standing, only to see she was no longer there. "Kushina?"

Looking all around, he couldn't see her anywhere nearby. Without tapping into Sage Mode he couldn't really follow her either, as he was never really tracking her signature and even with Kurama it would take him a while to find her in the middle of the village.

Sighing, Naruto remembered where he was, and noted that there was only one empty stool left at the ramen stand. Putting everything else behind him to worry about later, he made his way forward to finally get his delayed lunch.

* * *

The next morning, Naruto drummed his fingers on his desk as he examined the scroll Hiruzen had tossed him earlier when he first arrived. Part of him was expecting this, but another part of him was both surprised and flattered at what the scroll detailed. He wasn't sure why the soon-to-be old man didn't just tell him about this personally, and could only guess that perhaps he was just too busy to handle the one on one briefing.

Following a brief note congratulating and thanking him about resolving that minor issue yesterday in an 'efficient' manner, Hiruzen wanted him to use those skills to take on a either a genin team or an apprentice sometime soon. Probably once the war 'officially' started, as Konoha's graduation period was approaching. Though he was a powerhouse, and had shown Hiruzen and Danzo privately some of what he was capable of without going into Sage Mode or Tailed Beast Mode; giving him a team meant they likely wanted to keep him out of the war itself as much as possible. He had also explained what it meant to be a sage; Hiruzen already knew because all three of his students knew about being sages. Supposedly of the three only Jiraiya had been attempting it, he had seen some results but supposedly he was still not a full sage yet. The snakes did not want to teach Orochimaru, that much his student had confirmed, but he doubted that the smartest of the three would give up on the search.

As for Tsunade... her response was that she just didn't care about it. Naruto didn't really find himself surprised, she didn't really care about anything after the loss of Dan and Nawaki. It probably wouldn't be long now before she left the village, with the next war on the horizon.

Naruto wasn't sure who he would take to train, all he knew is that he'd have to look through the class rosters first to see who was currently in school. Any further musings about who he would eventually train were interrupted when there was a knock on his door. A spike of annoyance left as quickly as it arrived; he seemed to be getting interrupted more and more often lately. It was probably worse for the Hokage... but then the Hokage had a secretary and a personal assistant. He couldn't help but belatedly chastise himself for when he was younger, as the number of times he must have barged in on the old man probably bordered the triple digits.

"Come in."

The door silently opened and an ANBU with a bird mask peered into the room.

"Uzumaki-sama, Hokage-sama requests your presence as soon as possible."

"I'll be right there." Naruto sighed as he stood up, closing the scroll as he did so. Leaving it on his desk, he wondered what he could be needed for already. He had just been there perhaps an hour ago, and it was very rare for him to be needed by Hiruzen more than once a day.

Grabbing his vest from the back of his chair, the blond headed for the exit. He'd find out soon enough.

* * *

Naruto entered the Hokage's office for the second time that day, and struggled to keep his face impassive, though he knew at least one of his eyebrows arched upward in curiosity. Upon first entering the room, his eyes automatically settled on Mikoto, who had likely turned to look at the door as it opened. She gave him a quick smile, which he returned, before she turned to face the Hokage again.

His curiosity began to skyrocket as he looked around the rest of the room. Kagami was there, standing next to Danzo, and both of them looked to be chatting quietly, perhaps with a bit more animation than he was used to seeing from either of them. There were three other elderly men in the room, standing slightly off to the side. If he had to guess, based upon those he recognized in the room, they were Uchiha as well.

Hiruzen had noticed that he entered the room, and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Naruto. Thank you for being prompt."

The blond nodded as he moved towards the Hokage's desk. He stopped in front if it, and moved his hands behind his back. "You summoned me, Hokage-sama?"

He noticed as Hiruzen's lips twitched upwards a bit before he quickly brought the impromptu smile under control. Naruto had come to appreciate their little inside joke, and enjoyed getting reactions out of Sarutobi, if only because the man in front of him often griped about wanting to hand the hat over to Naruto right now.

Nodding once, Hiruzen offered the blond a slip of paper that was in his hand. "I had a petition land on my desk this morning. Since you're part of it, I brought you here."

Accepting the slip of paper, he quickly perused the contents, trying to focus on important words and phrases. It didn't take long, as there was really only one important part to it. The Uchiha Clan wanted to move forward with the marriage between Uchiha Mikoto and Uzumaki Naruto. Everything came sharply into focus as he realized that this was _actually happening,_ and not some dream. Part of him wondered just how much of what happened yesterday with Mei caused this to be accelerated the way it was.

Making sure he was composed, he nodded again and handed the paper back to the Hokage. "You need me here for the discussion?"

"Yes. Kagami?" Hiruzen waved his hand at the current head, who took a couple short steps forward, leaning slightly on his cane as he stopped in front of the Hokage's desk.

"I swear I didn't see this coming when we were last here almost year ago, Hiruzen."

The Hokage leaned back in his chair as he folded his arms over his chest, chuckling. "Of course not. I don't think anyone did." His eyes flickered towards the three other Uchiha men standing off to the side, and Naruto saw Kagami nod out of the corner of his own eyes.

"Regardless of the different viewpoints expressed by members of our elder council, everyone can agree that even though Uzumaki Naruto is not born of Uchiha blood, he meets any and all requirements that would be placed on any suitor for my daughter. Though he does not have the Sharingan, he has proven his capability in combat, having single-handedly defeated a young Sanbi Jinchuuriki. "

Naruto grimaced internally. He knew each generation was supposed to surpass the last, but he barely scratched the surface of what he was fully capable of. He understood that perhaps Kagami was probably trying to make it sound like what he did was impressive – which it was, to an average shinobi – but he had long ago proved that he was anything but average. Well, in his time, anyway.

"He has also proved his abilities at diplomacy and management, being able to bring several new bloodlines into Konoha, as well as being able to assist in getting them fully integrated into the village proper. This has brought many new opportunities to both the village and our allies, and has made our enemies reconsider any plans they may have been prepared to use against us in this time of instability.

"It is for these reasons that we wish for the bonding between an Uchiha and an Uzumaki." Kagami turned slightly to look at Naruto, "Our main request is that we wish for you, the suitor, to take the Uchiha name. The reason we are here before Hokage-sama is because we need his permission since there are only two named Uzumaki left in the village, and in the absence of clan leadership Hokage-sama has final say."

Naruto hadn't heard anything about this before. He was admittedly a bit chafed about having to lose the name he had since birth, but there was something else that concerned him more at the moment. With a slight frown on his face, he looked between Kagami and Hiruzen, asking the question at the forefront of his mind, "What does this mean for Kushina?"

"Technically, nothing," Hiruzen explained, a look of understanding on his face. "Before I released you from my service, Kushina would already have been the last of the Uzumaki Clan in the village. It simply meant according to village law she was required to keep her own last name when she married and give it to her firstborn son and daughter."

Kagami continued when the Hokage finished, "Though we are willing to let any of your children who do not activate the Sharingan by their fifteenth birthday, or a second daughter or third son take the last name Uzumaki as well, if you desire it."

Naruto began to nod, but stopped short, a question popping into his mind. "What if they manage to activate it after their fifteenth and have already changed their name?"

The blond noticed as Kagami's eyes tracked over towards where the other Uchiha were who hadn't said a word yet were, before coming back to him. "I would say we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, if we ever do. In all of our clan history, no one has ever activated their Sharingan after puberty. Should something happen, I believe we can let them remain an Uzumaki, keeping our ties with the clan rather close. Though I would hope you listen to what the clan advisers have to say regarding the situation, should it arise."

Naruto's eyes tracked around the room to land on the three older Uchiha men. They stared impassively at each other for a few seconds before the blond offered them a slight incline of his head. One of the men who was standing slightly in front of the other two nodded back, and Naruto knew the face of who he'd likely be dealing with the most. Facing the Hokage once more, Hiruzen stared at him impassively for a second before stamping and signing his name on a scroll in front of him.

"I have no issues with the request. The only thing left is for you to accept, Naruto." The Hokage turned the scroll around so Naruto could read it, and pushed both it and a calligraphy brush over to the other side of his desk.

As he began looking over the scroll, he realized it was pretty much everything they had just gone over. A million things began to flash through his mind as he realized that nothing would be the same at all anymore, compared to the time he came from.

He was a bit jittery and nervous, to be sure. He was essentially making it a certainty that the Itachi and Sasuke he knew would never exist. Deep down it made him feel rather uncomfortable, but by the same token, he knew that by taking this step he would be making Konoha stronger than ever by keeping the Uchiha alive. It was, perhaps, what Itachi would have wanted all along. As for Sasuke... well... Naruto had all but given up trying to understand just what Sasuke wanted by the time they had their sixth and final fight.

Then there was Mikoto. He did feel sad that he never got to know her in his time, but he could say the same thing for his own parents. Any interactions he might have had with her in his own time may have colored his opinions of the woman she was now, be it good or bad. Much the same as it was with Kushina and Minato, getting to know them all now without having known them previously let him enjoy actually getting to know them as they really were, rather than how he could have believed they should be now.

He was glad to get to know Mikoto now, certainly. She wasn't overly sweet or hyper around him, nor was she rough and aggressive. She was at what he considered that perfect middle-ground, almost like what he had settled into with Sakura during the war. Gracious to those who deserved it, and cool to those who had in some way slighted her... but somehow without being arrogant about it like he remembered Sasuke could be. At least if she didn't want to talk to you, she would tell you why, and not just grunt and ignore you.

They had spent the last few days since their return hanging around each other as much as possible. It was more her hanging around him than the other way around, since he had plenty of work that was dumped on him upon coming back to his 'job'. He was pleasantly surprised that the very next day after she told Minato and Kushina the news about the two of them, she brought him lunch. It was ramen too, so she likely understood that the fastest way to his heart was through his stomach by using his favorite food. Not only that, but she would help him with what she could in his duties. When there was some downtime they chatted about clans, Minato and Kushina, the state of the shinobi world, and pretty much anything else they could think of. Mikoto had stated that the days she spent with him had easily surpassed any of the ones she spent with Fugaku, leaving him happy but at the same time internally scowling at the other man.

Too bad she wasn't around when Mei had advanced on him. Or maybe it was better that it was Kushina after all, who knows what Mikoto would have done. At least Kushina was willing to listen to him when he made them stop.

Naruto didn't think they were in love with each other yet, though he couldn't claim to be an expert at understanding the emotion. They had only known each other for about four months, and known each other as more than mere acquaintances for maybe half of that. At the very least, he didn't believe he was in love with Mikoto, but he couldn't speak for her feelings about him. He knew he liked her quite a lot, and enjoyed spending time with her, and definitely wanted to spend more time with her. A _lot_more time.

It was at about that time his eyes finally reached the bottom of the contract. Something popped out that he had a hard time believing, and that no one had mentioned to him. He didn't mind what it said, not really – but it made him want to examine the contract again to make sure there was nothing hidden in it that he overlooked.

"We have to get married in a month? Doesn't that seem rather... I don't know, sudden?"

Kagami grunted from nearby. "Is that a problem? You're essentially taking the place of Fugaku. We even added a little extra time, otherwise it would have been happening in a little over two weeks."

"No problem," Naruto muttered, "Just didn't think I'd be getting married so soon. It's a bit of a wake up call, is all."

There was a chuckle to his right, and Kagami must have shifted over closer to him while he was reading since a hand landed heavily on his shoulder for a moment. "I'm certain Mikoto will do everything in her power to help you prepare."

Naruto turned to look at Mikoto, who had also moved slightly closer to him during his musings. Her hands were clasped behind her back much like he did when he first entered, but instead of looking at him she was busy staring a hole in the floor. Perhaps she was embarrassed, or maybe she was avoiding looking at him so he wouldn't feel guilted into anything. Perhaps she was even frustrated because of any rumors she may have heard about yesterday. He could find out later.

Taking a deep breath as he looked at the scroll one more time, he grabbed the brush, and tried to write his name a little more neatly than he normally would. This was a rather important document after all. The moment it was done and the brush had been set aside, Hiruzen grabbed the scroll and waved his hand over the ink to dry it.

Meanwhile Mikoto had grabbed his right hand with both of hers. She had moved even closer and was now pressing her body against his arm as she held his hand. He was a little surprised by her affectionate action in front of all the others, but didn't say anything.

"Naruto, I'll let you and Mikoto have the rest of the day to yourselves. I think there are a lot of things you can _and_should tell her now about your work."

"Yes, Hokage-sama. Do you need me for anything before we go?"

Hiruzen shook his head and waved Naruto off. As the blond was getting ready to ask Mikoto where she wanted to go, he heard her murmur near his ear that she needed to talk to her father really quick, but that she'd meet him by the entrance to the building in a minute. Nodding, he gave her hands a squeeze before heading to the door, mentally going over what to tell her, and exactly how to tell it.

* * *

After meeting up again, they decided to wander around Konoha for a little while. Naruto asked to wander around the construction area for a bit just to make sure everything was in order before he actually got the day off.

Everything seemed to be in order, in fact it seemed as if most of the construction workers had taken the day off too, and Mikoto joked that the Hokage probably gave them the day off since Naruto wouldn't be around to handle any issues. That one group of workers he had talked to yesterday were lucky again today if that was truly it. Whatever the case really was, Naruto put it out of his mind as he dragged Mikoto towards his old stomping grounds... or at least what they would be some day - Training Area Seven.

He had scoped them out not long after his arrival, just to see what it looked like. It did look much like he remembered, except for the fact that there were no training posts there yet. As one of the more open training grounds, it tended to be one of the less used than many of the others, which was always fine with him because most of his techniques required a lot of open space. Otherwise he'd be tearing up acres of forest.

Dragging her through the area, they eventually encountered a comfortable looking spot where he decided to sit down under the shade of a tree to keep them out of the glare of an early afternoon sun. Mikoto joined him, sitting close and then resting her head on his shoulder.

"I wonder where I should begin telling you about everything..."

Mikoto giggled briefly, and grabbed one of his hands in hers. "The beginning is usually a good place, or so I've heard."

Naruto nodded, agreeing, "Yeah. But it's a really long story, and will probably take a couple days to tell it all. I'm going to have to sum up a lot of things, and then I'll clarify over time."

"Huh?" Mikoto had pulled back slightly to look at him. "What have you done that could take that long to explain?"

"Well, technically my beginning doesn't happen for about another 7 years from now. I was born after the Third Shinobi War, which will be starting up sometime in the next few months."

The blond wasn't sure if he should keep going or wait to see if Mikoto would say or do something. So far she was just staring at him, blinking rapidly. When she didn't comment, or even open her mouth to speak, he pressed on.

"I was born on October 10th, the same night that the Kyuubi was ripped free from my mother. The process killed her, and then to keep the Kyuubi from rampaging in the village, my father sealed it back in me."

_Now _Mikoto was staring at him with wide eyes. Naruto could do nothing more than nod and offer a sad smile. "My parents in the future are Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato. They died the night I was born, and the Kyuubi was sealed into me."

He wasn't sure if those were tears he started to see in her eyes, but he couldn't say anything anyway because she nearly leaped from her sitting position and crashed into him, knocking him over onto his back. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she whispered 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry.' in his ear over and over. Apparently her grief over the loss of his parents in the future briefly overpowered any surprise she may have felt about his time traveling.

Naruto had already been through many situations like this before during the war when he tried to comfort others, so he simply remained as calm as he could and gently rubbed her back over the vest she was wearing. It wasn't too long before she finally settled down, shifting her body to get more comfortable in a position that had her nearly half-off, half-on top of him.

"I never got to know them in the future, but I'm glad to get to know them now. I know this must be a lot to take in, and I wouldn't be surprised if you don't believe me. Or even if you still want to look at me the same way now."

He felt her nod against his shoulder, where her head was currently resting. "It... is a lot to accept. I guess Hokage-sama believes you though, otherwise you wouldn't have been doing the things you have."

"Yes." Naruto chuckled, reminded of how surprisingly easy it was to get the people in charge to believe him, mostly thanks to the Yamanaka mind-walking techniques. "I've told him about things that will happen which have come true, and have already tried so manipulate some things to our advantage. All the clans from Kiri... they never came to Konoha in my time."

"I see." Mikoto took a deep breath and closed her eyes, the corner of her lips beginning to bend down into a frown. "Have you already... manipulated me?"

Naruto stared at Mikoto until she opened her eyes. She recoiled a bit, seemingly a little surprised at just how intense his stare was. "I've done nothing that you haven't wanted me to do. I already promised nothing I know or have done will harm the Uchiha Clan in any way, and that obviously includes you. Honestly, I only saw you two or three times from my time that I can remember."

"What?" She looked completely confused. "I wasn't the leader of the clan anymore? I'm guessing that I married Fugaku after all, right?" she questioned, shivering slightly.

Naruto could tell she didn't exactly look pleased about that thought. "Yes, you and Fugaku married, and had two sons. Itachi and Sasuke."

Mikoto immediately sat up straight, eyes bright. "Can you tell me about them?" Even though she seemed excited, it quickly dimmed when Naruto didn't smile, or even seem to match her level of excitement.

"Naruto... what happened to my sons?"

The blond couldn't help but wince slightly, something she obviously noticed as her frown deepened. "Itachi was a genius. Sasuke was too, in his own way. Unfortunately some stuff happened that sort of... made things go badly for the both of them. I'm not sure it's a good idea for me to say anything, honestly. Are you _really _sure you want to know?"

She nodded almost immediately. "As their mother one way or another, I believe I have that right."

Part of Naruto wanted to refuse, after all they were the children of a now alternate Mikoto from the one he was with. At least, that was the way he had started thinking of her. So technically she had no claim to them... but he really had no intention to upset her, so he just resigned himself to telling her the entire history from the beginning.

"In order for you to understand what happened, I need to give you a little more background. You see, after the Kyuubi was released from my mother and attacked Konoha, a lot of people began to distrust the Uchiha Clan. Those who tried to subdue the bijuu saw that its eyes were dull, and under the influence of the Sharingan. Even though many Uchiha lost their lives that night, people still wanted to place blame."

Naruto found himself struggling to press onwards as Mikoto began to pale.

"The Uchiha Clan, as I'm sure you know, has always kept itself somewhat apart from the rest of the village. This didn't help, and it only got worse with time. I don't know what would have happened if the Yondaime was still alive, but with the Sandaime back in power, things began to slide backwards. Not that it was Sarutobi-jiji's fault, but I think by the time he got back in control of the situation, things with the Uchiha had been spiraling out of control for some time since the attack."

Mikoto listened carefully as Naruto continued explaining the coup plot, which she had a hard time believing that she would have taken part in, or even condoned. Since the blond did not know her from his time, he couldn't even begin to understand what her mindset was like.

"So in order to keep the peace, Sarutobi tried to perform some sort of peace talks with the clan." Naruto waved one of his hands in an exasperated gesture. "I don't know what the outcome of them really was, but all I know is that Itachi volunteered to kill his clan when the Konoha leadership was running out of options. He was thirteen."

Mikoto's hand moved to cover her mouth after letting out a startled gasp. She was looking at Naruto with horror evident in her eyes, but the blond figured the best he could do for her was to plow through it and not dwell on any one part of it.

"I don't know how many he actually killed, but I found out later that he had help. Somehow he got in contact with Madara – or at least the man he believed was Madara – and had him help kill the clan. Itachi only killed his immediate family, his best friend, and his girlfriend... but he left Sasuke alive.

"Sasuke... is complicated. Growing up he was my rival, my best friend, and my brother in every way but blood. Itachi had a plan for him, one that hinged on Sasuke killing him to 'redeem' the clan. His plan might have worked, but Orochimaru got his hands on Sasuke, and after that he became a lost cause."

"Orochimaru? But he-"

Naruto held up a hand, stalling Mikoto's interruption. "He has already started up with his laboratories. Granted, as far as we can tell he reports everything he does and doesn't use Konoha natives or living people – yet. That will change sometime soon during the third war, and he'll start experimenting on war orphans. Hokage-sama hasn't decided how to handle it yet. Don't tell _anyone_, please? I'm taking a big risk just by telling you."

She nodded, somewhat meekly. After that, the two of them sat there in silence for a bit. Naruto figured that Mikoto would probably need some time to absorb everything he told her. Surprisingly, very little time was needed before she started asking for more, beginning with one of the stories he dreaded telling the most – Sasuke.

He began from their first encounters in the Academy up through their final and sixth fight during the Fourth War. How their final fight had ended with Sasuke committing suicide, pointlessly using intense techniques that were aimed anywhere and exhausting his chakra while he bled out from injuries. Naruto did his best to comfort Mikoto when she began to cry softly for the sons she never had, or hadn't had _yet... _it was too confusing for him to think about.

Of course the discussion around Sasuke's death brought the Fourth Shinobi War into the picture, and Naruto spent most of the remainder of that afternoon explaining a little more about some of his own personal fights leading up to the war. Then he continued with what it was like to fight alongside shinobi from the other nations, and what it was like to eventually end up leading that entire force.

When he finally finished explaining everything about that war that he could think of right then and answered all of Mikoto's questions, the sun was beginning to set, leaving the sky painted in various reddish hues. They had shifted between many different positions during the course of his storytelling, but had finally ended up to where he was sitting with his back resting against a tree trunk, while Mikoto was laying on the ground in front of him, her head in his lap. He had begun running his hands through her hair, grinning occasionally as she would let out a contented hum.

It was right after he finished the tale about how he came back in time that she tossed a question at him that he had been expecting since the very beginning.

"Naruto, when are you going to tell your parents?"

He let out a sigh, knowing that he was conflicted enough about his decision already. He had no idea what Mikoto would think, but apparently it was time to find out.

"At first, I wanted to right away... to hell with the consequences and all that. But after meeting both of them, I realized that they weren't the same people that I met very briefly in my seal when I fought Nagato. Dad... I mean, Minato was still serious, but he just seems a lot happier than he did during our brief encounter in the seal. I only got to meet him for a couple minutes though, so I can't say for sure what he was really like when he became Hokage.

"As for Kushina... she's really different. She was much more calm when we met in the seal, and I had much longer to talk to her when compared to my dad. She must have settled down a lot, because she's really hyper now. I guess between dad getting the Hokage position and me being born it must have helped her calm down. It's a bit strange now since she keeps referring to me as her big brother... every day it's been getting harder and harder to see her as my mother in the future."

"Maybe that's for the best?"

Naruto was slightly startled, he wasn't expecting Mikoto to say anything. It must have shown on his face too, because when he looked down at her, she was grinning up at him. "What do you mean?"

His future wife did a small shrug from where she was laying, and closed her eyes as he resumed playing with her hair. "Well, if you do come clean, it will be a bit odd for a man who is older than her to be calling her 'mom', don't you think? It's the same thing for Minato. I know it would be odd for me as your wife to be married to the son of my best friend."

"This is so complicated," Naruto sighed. "I wasn't planning on telling Kushina anything until she was pregnant with... well, me. As for my dad, he'll know when he becomes Hokage, even if I don't say anything. I'll probably let him find out, then talk to him if he asks. Then there is also Kurama who I have to talk to, but we both agreed it would probably be a few years before I can do anything about his situation, sadly."

"Kurama?"

"Kyuubi."

Mikoto made an 'oh' face, then let out a 'hmm' noise, shifting her weight so she could sit up. "I can't really say anything about Kyu- err, Kurama, but otherwise not telling Kushina or Minato just yet sounds reasonable. I'm also curious about your situation with how there can be two jinchuuriki for the same bijuu. We can talk about it more later, though... because I'm starving. We haven't eaten all day."

"Not to ignore what you were saying about food, but I have to ask if you're okay before we go wandering around the village."

Mikoto closed her eyes, nodding slowly. "I'm still in a bit of shock, I think... but otherwise I'm fine. The things you've said... it's a lot to take in. I really don't want to talk about it any more right now, okay? We'll have plenty of time to talk about it in the next month, and then forever beyond that."

Naruto smiled a bit, before returning the nod, knowing that they still had plenty to talk about. "You're right. Well, lets go get something. You can choose."

"I want to go to the place where you first came to get me for that mission." Mikoto giggled at the look on Naruto's face as they both rose to their feet.

"Wha- why would you want to take me there? Not that I'm complaining, but I didn't think you'd want to go somewhere that Fugaku has been with you."

"I want to show them I'm with someone better this time." His fiancee gave him a brilliant smile as she grabbed his hand in hers and began tugging him along. "Besides, we need to get you to start making a good impression on the clan as a whole. Seeing you make me happy will go a long way towards getting a lot of others to respect you. I'm sure you know that because you don't have the Sharingan that you're going to have a hard time winning everyone over. I'll make sure everyone knows that I chose you, but that still doesn't give you a free pass, unfortunately."

"So I have to work towards acknowledgment? I've done it before, I can do it again." Naruto leaned forward, pulling her close from the hand he was holding, and stole a kiss that she seemed to be more than happy to give. "I hope we didn't need to have a reservation. That looked like a pretty nice place."

Mikoto giggled, and kissed him again, this time on the cheek. If his story was affecting her at all, she was doing an excellent job of hiding it. "Silly. Remember who I am? It's in our district, so I _always_ have a reservation there whenever I want it. Let's go."

* * *

_Thirty one days later..._

Even if it was a bit of a hassle, he had somehow managed to avoid Mei for an entire month, or at least had Mikoto with him when they did encounter her. Some of those encounters got intense and even rather, well... _heated_, but for the most part he had made it no worse for wear.

It did need to be said that Mikoto had some incredible killing intent. That he could actually feel it surprised him, as after fighting in a war so long it took a lot for him to even feel what an average shinobi would consider a large amount. Not only did she have some incredible intent, but she didn't shy away from fighting either, if that's what it took. There was more than one occasion where he had to hold her back. Thank goodness Kushina was never around at the same time.

Luckily he never had Mikoto's ire directed at him, so long as he kept himself out of Mei's grasp. It led him to being a little more aware of his surroundings in the village than he normally would have been otherwise, not to mention a rather judicious use of Shadow Clones, but he had managed.

Needless to say, he felt that he had managed to keep Mikoto happy, his unique time-travel circumstances notwithstanding. Her happiness was all that really mattered in the end. It took her most of the week after he told her where he was from for her to come to terms with things, but it spoke a lot to him that she was more looking towards the future rather than what had happened in his past. Not that she wasn't curious, she just didn't put a lot of stock in it. As she so eloquently put it, the time line was already 'Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition'.

He'd have to remember that one. Maybe turn it into an acronym and use it in a witty sentence to his future students, when Hiruzen decided to officially saddle him with one or three.

"So how does it feel, being a married man at your age?"

Naruto turned his head to stare at Minato, giving him a sour look. "Just fine, thank you. It is a bit surreal, but my wife is head of one of the most powerful clans in Konoha, you know."

"Whoa there," Minato held his hands up in a surrendering gesture, "I didn't mean anything by it. I've already offered my congratulations, now as one of your still unmarried friends I get to joke about you tying the knot."

"Well, like I said, it is all a bit surreal. I mean I've only really come to know everyone over what, the last six months or so? To think that we all met just because one day I sat next to you in a ramen stand."

Minato shook his head, grinning. "I think the fact that we look strangely similar, and the fact that you are also... I mean, _were_one of the last Uzumaki pretty much made us friends whether we wanted to be or not. I don't have any problems with it, you're the best sparring partner I've ever had and are the only one who can keep up with me when I can use some of my more intense techniques. Not to mention you make a good test subject."

Uchiha Naruto shot a mock glare at his best friend, but then nodded and closed his eyes, resting his head against the back of the chair he was sitting in. The legal ceremony to bind him and Mikoto together as husband and wife had just happened about an hour ago. It was a small get together, neither of them wanted to make a huge spectacle of it, which he was definitely thankful for.

As was expected, he had asked Minato to be his best man, as well as his witness. Mikoto had picked Kushina, who was bouncing off the walls with excitement the entire time, even if it was a closed ceremony. There were a few others there as well, like Hiruzen and his two old teammates, Akimichi Taichi, Danzo, Kagami, and the three Uchiha advisers that Naruto met in the Hokage's office a month ago. There were a few others there that he didn't recognize either, but his focus was stuck on Mikoto for nearly the entire time.

She had dressed up nicely, but it was tasteful and nothing exotic or extreme. It definitely showed off her figure that was typically hidden underneath her bulky Jonin attire, the figure that he had only seen for a couple days during their mission when she was wearing her night clothes. Even when they went out in Konoha over the past month, she rarely wore anything other than her shinobi garb, and if she didn't it was always something conservative.

He hadn't worn anything extraordinary, but apparently he did clean up rather well and looked good in nice clothing. When he wasn't on duty he usually only wore light t-shirts and shorts. Judging by the stares he got from Mikoto and Kushina – who was trying not to look and failing – and comments from Kagami and Minato, he did indeed look very sophisticated when he actually tried to look nice.

Other than their marriage preparations, explaining the future to Mikoto, and trying to avoid Mei... a lot had happened over the past month. Two weeks ago Earth Country formally declared war on Wind Country because Sunagakure had been using a little more effort than necessary in searching for their lost Kazekage. The skirmishes between Suna and Iwa nin along Earth Country borders and in their allies territory had finally degraded into all-out battles.

As a result of this, graduations had been pushed into fast forward, and many up-and-comers were being assigned to a rash of new Jonin instructors. Minato was one of those, and Naruto had to pretend to be surprised when Minato told their group he'd be getting a team of his own sometime soon. Naruto was still fairly curious who would be on his own team, unless he was simply given an apprentice.

"Oho, so this is where everyone is!"

Naruto immediately recognized the boisterous voice, turning to look over near the entrance to their room. Sure enough, Jiraiya was standing there with a big grin on his face, and holding a book in his right hand.

"Jiraiya-sensei!" Minato quickly stood from his chair and moved towards the door. Jiraiya met him halfway, giving his once student a handshake and a hearty pat on the shoulder. Naruto remained where he was, listening to the two of them talk about things Minato had been working on. When the conversation finally got around to what Jiraiya was doing in Konoha, Naruto decided to join in.

"You know me, Minato. Ever since you brats grew up, Sarutobi-sensei has had me running about all over the place trying to find out as much as I can about what's going on. Since Earth finally declared on Wind, we're going to have to back them up as our ally. But he's sending me towards Lightning because we don't know what they're going to do."

"They're probably going to go after Water," Naruto started with certainty, because he knew that's what they did in his time. "Especially because of how much weaker they will be due to the loss of several of their more prominent bloodline clans. Even with the Civil War there, they likely would have put aside most of their differences to defend their homes. Water tried to stay out of it, but you can't really stay completely neutral in a World War if someone doesn't want you to be."

Jiraiya nodded slowly, both as an acknowledgment and a greeting. "Naruto."

"Ero-Sennin."

"Tch, how many-" Whatever he was going to say was cut off as Minato started laughing. The white haired sage simply turned to look at his student with horror. "Not you too! I've already got Kushina-chan calling me that and Mikoto-chan doesn't try to stop her either!"

"S-sorry, sensei." Minato was trying to talk through his chuckles, "But you have to admit, it fits you. Every time I hear it... it never gets old."

Jiraiya grunted, then sighed, knowing he was now stuck with the nickname. Shaking his head, he glared briefly at Naruto before offering the book in his hand. "I should be angry with you, but Minato is right, it does fit me. I can think of worse things to be called too. Anyway, this is a new work of mine, and is still in an outline form, but I've finished the first scene. It might, uh... give you some tips for tonight, if you catch my meaning."

Naruto accepted the book, already knowing what it likely was. Flipping it open, he recognized Jiraiya's rather neat scrawl immediately. This was still his original written copy.

"Interesting. What's it called?"

"Ehhh, I haven't really thought much about that yet. I just want it to be a series of short stories. It's just something I've been working on in my spare time, anyway. I have another book that I've been working on for years already that I want to release first, I think. Do you two want to be the first to read it when it's done?"

"Of course, Sensei!"

Naruto simply nodded as he continued browsing through the manuscript of what would one day be the first of many Icha Icha books. He felt a small smile tug at the corner of his lips as he remembered the many occasions where Jiraiya had stopped them during their travels to do his 'research', and the usual hilarious results when he would raise enough of a stink to get Jiraiya caught.

"Look at that Minato! See that grin? I think he likes it!"

Naruto chuckled, nodding his head as he closed the manuscript. "Yes, so far so good, Ero-Sennin. Maybe I'll show some of it to Mikoto, she might like it."

Both of the men in front of him immediately paled, and Jiraiya immediately snatched the book out of Naruto's hands. "O-on second thought, I think this book needs a _lot_more work before I show it to anyone. Ta!"

Jiraiya vanished from the room, and Naruto just stared at the spot where the man was before looking at the other blond still in the room. All Minato could do was shake his head and sigh.

"Sensei has been scarred from when he was peeping on the women's hot springs and Kushina and Mikoto were hidden in there. You don't want to know the things they said they would do to him if he were ever caught with or doing something perverse by either of them."

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle, and think wistfully about the past. "Oh, I'm sure I can imagine."

Anything further that would have been said between the two of them was cut off by another person appearing in the doorway, though this time it was a feisty redhead.

"Minato? Naruto-aniki? What happened to Ero-Sennin? He looked at me and ran away crying."

Both blonds looked at each other and shared a look before grinning.

"I think he took a joke of mine a little too seriously," claimed Naruto. He saw Minato nodding in his peripheral, and as if that was enough for her Kushina simply hummed in agreement as she entered the room.

First she moved over to Naruto a brief hug, whispering congratulations in his ear. Then she took a step back and winked at him. "Mikoto-nee said she'd be waiting for you at home, aniki."

Naruto blinked at her owlishly for a moment before grinning, only for Kushina to blush and look away, then move towards Minato. He watched as she moved up and hugged Minato, but didn't let go, and left her head facing away from him as it rested against Minato's shoulder. Naruto pointed at her with a confused face, silently asking Minato if something was wrong.

All he got from the other blond was a small frown and a minute shake of his head, so he could only guess that either Minato didn't know or he wasn't going to say anything right now.

"You two have a good night, I'm going to follow Kushina-chan's advice and see how Mikoto is doing. See you later." He waved to them as he turned, not sure what was up with his sister, but figuring that Minato would be able to handle it. Idly registering their voiced goodbyes, his thoughts turned to his new wife, and what she would want tonight.

* * *

"Mikoto?" Naruto spoke loudly into the house as he closed the door behind him. Her father had given them their own place to live in on the head's grounds once they wed, and they could continue living there as long as they wanted, or at least until Mikoto took up the mantle as clan leader.

"Up here." He heard her voice come from near the stairs to the upper level. Their house was one of the few buildings on the Uchiha grounds that actually had more than one floor. Naruto wasn't sure if it was a matter of preference, necessity, or practicality. Having lived in an apartment for all of his life, he didn't really care one way or the other.

Making his way up the steps, he saw that the door to their room was open, and as he approached he could see her sitting on the side of the bed, watching the door and waiting for him. She didn't say a word as he entered the room, and they spent the next moment simply staring at each other. He felt a slight bit overdressed standing in front of her; she had since changed back into her baggy shinobi outfit, minus the jacket.

The moment was broken when Mikoto bowed her head forward slightly, then stood. Naruto wasn't sure if she was going to walk over to him, but she stopped about halfway between the bed and the door, then dropped down to her knees in front of him and kept her gaze focused on the ground at his feet.

"Danna-sama, I'm yours from this day forth, wholly and completely. Whatever your wish, you may command me as you see fit. My life-"

Mikoto's speech was cut off as Naruto had quickly dropped to his knees and pulled his new wife into his arms. "Mikoto, why are you saying such strange things all of a sudden?"

He heard her let out a rush of breath as her chin settled on his shoulder, and she relaxed completely as her arms returned his hug.

"I'm sorry," she began, "my father had me remember this speech back when I first got engaged to Fugaku. It's something of a tradition, or so he claimed, even if he never followed through with mother. In short, it gives the husband ultimate power, even if he was not the one born into a position of leadership."

"That's stupid," Naruto snorted. Realizing the potential insult, he quickly backpedaled. "I-I don't mean that in a bad way, but it does sound kind of silly to-"

He was cut off as Mikoto pulled back slightly to look at him as he spoke, then moved forward, pressing her lips against his. He was surprised, but pleasantly so. She didn't linger, however, and pulled back quickly while tossing him a shy smile.

"It's okay. I think it's stupid too, but our society has come a long way since the time this was made up. Regardless, even if I was heir, you would have complete control over me. I know Fugaku would have used it..."

"And you hoped I wouldn't," Naruto finished for her. Seeing her nod and hopeful look, he couldn't help but grin and kiss her again. It was about the same duration as the one she had just given him, but now it was her turn to look amused.

"I'm glad you placed your hopes in me, because I don't really care about something like that. You know more than I do about this clan business, I think all the elders just agreed with me because I make the clan look good."

While Mikoto did not respond to his comment, she simply nodded as she pulled out of his hug and rose to her feet. Offering him a hand, which he graciously accepted, she pulled him up and then tugged him towards her as she moved backwards. As a result, they both fell over onto the bed. Naruto shifted slightly to the side so that he would not fall over directly on top of her, even if he didn't think he was _that_heavy.

While they had definitely become much, much closer over the past several weeks, Naruto was more than happy to let Mikoto take charge and move at the pace she felt was appropriate. Taking things slow was fairly new to him as well, and relationships during the war – if you could really even call them that – crashed and burned more often than not because of the hectic times. Physical gratification in some manner almost became a necessity later on since the slightest amount of depression could get you sucked into the red moon if you weren't careful or powerful enough to resist the pull.

Luckily he wasn't like many of the others, he was fairly powerful already, and with Kurama's chakra also in his system it worked as the ultimate genjutsu breaker, so he never really had anything to worry about. The closest he would have come to falling was after the death of Tsunade, but Kurama snapped him out of that funk fast enough. Sakura's death had been next, but he had managed to harden himself enough by that point to keep the severe, lingering grief at bay.

"Naruto?"

His mind snapping back to the present, Naruto looked down curiously at the woman who was now rolling over on top of him a little and had her forearms propped up against his chest, lifting her torso so she was looking down at him. "Yes?"

"Thank you."

Naruto stared curiously at Mikoto, waiting a second for her to elaborate, but she didn't. "Huh? I don't think you have to thank me for anything, do you?" he questioned.

"Thank you for being you, I mean." Mikoto sighed. "I'm amazed you turned out the way you did, considering your past. I'm glad I was able to find someone who was honorable and kind, and the fact that you've managed to stay that way even through a war you were losing is nothing short of amazing."

She began to shift her arms, moving them to both sides of his torso as she gradually lowered her chest against his. Her long black hair had started to come loose from the simple bun it was in, and as a result it had started hanging down along her head, framing her face.

"When I first knew about having to get married, I never thought I'd get to feel as satisfied as I am now. I always dreamed that I would get someone who, as you put it, cares about me because of _who_ I am, not _what _I am." Her dark eyes flickered a faint red as the strength of her emotions was causing her Sharingan to activate unconsciously.

"I think you've proven more than once that being married to the Uchiha head doesn't really matter to you." Mikoto smiled now, her eyes dimming back down to their normal dark brown. Stretching her neck, she placed a light kiss on his chin. "I love you."

Naruto couldn't help but smile. It wasn't the first time they had mentioned love – their first was about a week ago – but it was definitely the most private setting in which it had been mentioned. She was still slightly elevated from him, so he lifted his head to press his lips against hers for a lingering kiss. Finally moving his arms now as well, he rested his hands on the back of her arms, and began slowly rubbing them.

"I love you too, Mikoto," he murmured as he pulled back from the kiss. He was thinking she'd just settle back down and they'd rest and talk after the long day, but she began to grind against him slightly as she shifted her weight up along his body.

He watched her, both curious and aroused, as she finally lowered herself to settle next to him so that their eyes met evenly. She kissed him quickly, then moved her head next to his.

"I've been waiting for tonight for weeks. I'm not wearing anything under my uniform," she whispered seductively. Nibbling on his earlobe before pulling away, Naruto couldn't remember a time where his arousal had built so steadily and reached such a high point before.

He couldn't help but grin as he turned his head and blew air at the back of her neck causing her to shiver slightly against him. "I guess it wouldn't be polite for me to keep a lady waiting, would it?"

"Definitely not," she murmured. "Now get busy, husband."

He definitely did not need to be told twice.

* * *

Omake

"… and so we needed to come before Hokage-sama for permission since there are only two named Uzumaki left in the village. Without a clan leader, Hokage-sama makes any final decisions regarding the fate of the Uzumaki."

"Wait, wait..." Naruto held up his hands, and everyone paused to see what he had to say. "You all aren't going to spring some surprise on me since I'm one of the last Uzumaki, are you? Something about there being a little known clan restoration act or plan that you want me to participate in and force me to marry multiple women after Mikoto which may include Terumi Mei and heavens forbid, my sister Kushina," Naruto shuddered, "until we have plenty of children and you are all satisfied the clan won't die out?" Taking a deep breath after speaking so much, he eyed several people in the room warily. "Are you?"

Silence pervaded for a few moments as Hiruzen just stared at Naruto incredulously. "Where did you get that idea from?" he asked after he finally found his voice. "Wait, this isn't something from when..."

His voice trailed off, but the intention was clear. Hiruzen was asking if it was something they did in the future, likely because of the Uchiha clan being completely decimated. Unfortunately, all Naruto could do was shrug. "I don't know, honestly. I mean, I heard rumors, but I don't know how much truth there was to them. Though they say all rumors have some basis in truth."

The Hokage leaned forward and rubbed his temples, mumbling for a few moments. Finally he cleared his throat and looked up. "Naruto, I swear nothing like that will happen on my watch. It's completely preposterous."

Naruto could only nod, and then looked around the room to see the other reactions to what he asked. Danzo was giving him some kind of shrewd look, probably thinking of doing exactly what he had said at some point in time. Kagami appeared exasperated, if not a bit peeved, while the other Uchiha elders simply looked to be a mix of confused and agitated. He turned to look at Mikoto, but he noticed her turn away the moment she came into his field of vision. Naruto could barely tell from the profile glimpse of her face that it was turning red, and considering the way her fists were clenched and shaking, it probably meant he was in for a world of hurt.

He thought he had grown out of that big mouth. Oh well.

* * *

Chapter notes and review responses will now be posted at paradoxjast . blogspot . com so as to not clutter up the end of fics with stuff that not everyone wants to read. Other stuff will be posted there too, so keep it in mind to check out once every so often if you want to see what I'm up to.

P.S. - For those of you who didn't get it, 'Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition' = FUBAR


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

_Just under two years later..._

"Master! Hey, Master, wait up!"

Naruto stopped walking, turning to look over his shoulder with a small smile on his face. He'd recognize that loud, boisterous voice anywhere.

A young girl who was nearly eight years old came to a skidding halt next to him as he watched, amused. His smile grew as he noticed the gleaming protector on her forehead with the leaf insignia emblazoned upon it. Before he could say anything, the girl pointed at him and yelled, "I did it Master! Now you owe me a jutsu! You promised me that you'd teach me one after I graduated!"

Chuckling, Naruto nodded. "That I did. I always keep my promises." Walking over, he leaned over and gave the girl a brief hug, which she quickly returned before mumbling about being embarrassed.

"Sorry Anko. I didn't mean to embarrass you. Let's go celebrate for a bit. What do you want for lunch?"

"Dango!"

The shout came as no surprise to Naruto, so he simply nodded and gestured for the purple haired girl to follow. He was just wandering around the village aimlessly right now anyway as he was waiting for her class to get out.

Many of the random people they met in the street would nod and greet Naruto as he walked by with his young apprentice, many even offering her their own congratulations to the girl. He'd never seen that big a smile stay on her face for so long. Almost two years ago, the Sandaime had shown him the list of the current Academy students, as well as those who would be enrolling soon. The moment his eyes drifted across the name Mitarashi Anko, he had requested to take her as an apprentice on the spot. Of course Hiruzen seemed a bit put out by that, obviously hoping he would have taken a full team. Once Naruto explained about who Anko was in the future, and how she had been abandoned by Orochimaru, however... he understood completely.

Naruto had no problem taking a full team after his initial training with Anko was finished and she became a genin. But he wanted to give one of his old friends from during the war a better early career where she wouldn't be abandoned like trash and instead be treated with respect for the rest of her tenure as a shinobi.

Anko was an orphan, apparently both of her parents were killed during the second war. She also thought she had an older sibling, but was too young to remember clearly and only heard rumors. She went on a brief search when she was apprenticed to Naruto, but had so far not found anything. Then again, there was only so much a girl her age could do.

Naruto was honestly pleased with both Anko and his own teaching skills which had come a long way since Konohamaru. He was able to teach her well enough so that she was able to burn through the Academy programs and graduate in two years, when the full program ran for six, and up to eight if you included remedial classes. Now that they were in war time though, the Academy was trying to pump all their students out in a maximum of four years. He had managed to make Anko good enough in half that time. Sure, she was no Hatake Kakashi or alternate Itachi, but she was very skilled in her own right for someone so young.

He had also been teaching her things that weren't in the Academy curriculum, such as tree climbing and water walking, and had also figured out that she had an affinity for water chakra. The only thing he wouldn't do was teach her any proper jutsu other than the Academy basics before she graduated. At first she seemed rather put out by that fact, but then when he told her the stronger she was when she graduated, the stronger the techniques he could teach her... she gave it all she had.

He didn't want to spoil the girl too much, if anything Mikoto did that enough for him. In fact, his wife would have already adopted the girl if not for the fact that families were not allowed to apprentice their own children. If they wanted her, Naruto wouldn't be allowed to be her Master any more. He offered Anko the option, of course, but the girl was fine being the only Mitarashi. She wanted to keep Naruto as her sensei.

That didn't stop her from calling him 'dad' on occasion when they were alone. The first time she did it a scant few months ago, she surprised herself if the look on her face was anything to go by. She quickly slapped her hands over her mouth as she stared at him, blushing red, then quickly began stuttering out how she didn't mean to; apologizing while panicked. When he pulled her into a hug and told her he was flattered she began to cry, saying she didn't want to upset him because she turned down his previous offer.

He told her that she could call him that whenever she wanted to, even if it wasn't official on paper. He was also able to fondly remember the first time she had called Mikoto 'mom', just to see her reaction. His wife literally melted right in front of their eyes and he had to pull Anko out of the woman's grasp as she was going to suffocate his apprentice with her own hug. The girl obviously took their reactions to heart, as after a couple months of training she had asked to move out of her lonely village-subsidized apartment and into the Uchiha District near them. They were more than happy to oblige.

As for the Uchiha clan and the District in general... Mikoto had taken up the mantle of clan head nearly a year ago and had plenty of good ideas, though it went without saying that she often came to her husband for his advice and thoughts on nearly every action. Many Uchiha often joked that the clan had two heads, but they worked so well together that no one was complaining about it to the best of their knowledge.

In regards to the District itself, it had also been through quite a few changes. One of the first things Naruto had suggested to Mikoto once she was made clan head was that they remove the wall around the compound, or at least most of it. She was skeptical at first, but upon listening to his explanation, she agreed it made sense and went along with it. It was what he called step one in his plan to get the Uchiha more involved with the village as a whole, and to do it in ways that seemed small at first but would gradually change not only the clan, but the village as well.

The elders and most of the older generations didn't seem to care about the wall one way or another, which they took as a good sign. The rest of the village was surprised but pleased, not to mention that Hiruzen thought it was brilliant. The rumor going around was that the Hyuuga, the only other clan with all wall around their compound, were also thinking of tearing theirs down too.

Uchiha clan members were now encouraged to live anywhere in the village that they wanted, which made for many happy clan members as some felt suffocated being stuck on Uchiha clan grounds. Not only that, but people from outside of the village were allowed to live and do business on clan grounds, if they wished, but they were charged a premium in rent and merchant fees. None of them complained about the premium since they were able to live and do business in what was quickly becoming the most popular and best protected area of the village.

Of course all of Naruto's plans didn't go into effect without some grumbling. Fugaku was more often than not at the forefront, though Naruto was unsure if the man was putting himself out there as Naruto's opposition just because he had a grudge, or if he had legitimate issues. They never really talked to each other unless they absolutely had to, so Naruto tended to avoid the Military Police headquarters unless Mikoto sent him there because _she_ didn't want to deal with him. Fugaku was always too much into the status-quo and didn't appear to handle change very well, if the grimace constantly on his face was any indication.

Minato had joked more than once that Naruto was whipped, and Naruto didn't argue the point. Sure he might have had to do some things he didn't really want to, but on the other hand he was happier than he could ever remember being before, so he didn't mind doing pretty much anything his wife asked.

That wasn't to say he had any major problems with Fugaku, because he didn't. They just didn't really get along at all, and neither of them put any effort into fixing things between them. Fugaku seemed to begrudginly accept the fact that Naruto was doing quite a lot of good for the clan, even for someone who wasn't an Uchiha by blood. He didn't bother Naruto about things, and in return Naruto was completely hands-off with the Military Police. He only asked for quarterly reports, which he always got right on time. So long as there were no issues, it would likely stay that way for the forseeable future.

He heard Anko start to chatter excitedly, and looked to see what she was making a fuss about. From the looks of things, not only had they arrived, but Minato was there as well with his team which he had just gotten a little under a year ago. At the same time he got his team, Hiruzen had surprised Minato by telling him that he would be Hokage when the war was over. The four friends had a small party that night in congratulations, but sadly had to end it early because Minato was whining that the Hokage wanted him up early for his new training to start.

The full announcement was supposedly going to be made to the village later this month, and from the looks of things they were already getting started on adding his face to the mountain. This of course made the village rumor-mill go crazy, many thinking that the next Hokage would be either Hatake Sakumo or Orochimaru.

Naruto's focus shifted from the mountain back over to his apprentice, who had run ahead excitedly, yammering about how she had graduated and showing each member of Minato's team in turn. Chuckling to himself, he grinned at the younger blond and sat down in an empty chair next to his friend.

"I don't think I've ever seen you over here with your team before."

Minato shrugged, idly waving around a dango stick he seemed to be nibbling on. "Obito wanted to try something different today, and for once Kakashi didn't disagree. So... here we are."

"No comments from Rin-chan either?"

"Nope. But she's usually agreeable to anything either of them say anyway."

Naruto nodded. He hadn't gotten to know the members of Minato's team as well as he would have liked, but since they were consistently out on missions he never really got any opportunities. The few chances he did have also forced him to split his attention between them and Anko, though his apprentice obviously always got priority.

He already knew Kakashi through Sakumo, not to mention the one mission they went on a while ago. Kakashi seemed a lot more open and friendly with his father still alive, though he still had that slightly aloof attitude that easily pissed people off. He didn't know if this Kakashi got along better with Obito or not, and he didn't want to be nosy with someone else's team, but he couldn't help but be curious. In general Kakashi was simply much more pleasant than he had been expecting, knowing more about the man's past from his now-alternate future than anyone else.

Some of that may have had to do with the general feeling of hero-worship that Kakashi often hit him with. While it wasn't extreme by any means, it wasn't unusual for Kakashi to come to Naruto for advice instead of Minato or even his father. Sakumo took it all in stride, but Minato appeared to be rather put-out whenever it happened. When Naruto asked Kakashi why he didn't ask others, the only real response he got was that Naruto just so happened to be the strongest person he knew.

When questioned about his father or the Hokage, the only response was, "I've never seen them fight." It made sense, though Minato's grumblings would have a habit of getting to Kushina, and then both Naruto and Kakashi would suffer her wrath. It wasn't bad, per se... and nowhere near as bad as what she would do to someone who she was legitimately angry with. Still, she sometimes put a little extra effort into actually trying to hurt him during their frequent training sessions.

In regards to Obito, the teen regarded him with complete awe the few times they had met. He assumed it was just because of him being married to the clan head, and perhaps even a few tall tales from Kakashi, but apparently that wasn't all. Obito's parents had claimed that bringing Naruto into the clan was a godsend, and they had respect again thanks to him. They were getting along with the rest of the village better than they had since the short reign of the Nidaime Hokage and when he implemented the Military Police. Obito's parents nearly worshiped him, and as a result, that had sort of passed on to the young boy.

Naruto had asked Mikoto if Obito was related to her in any way, but she wasn't aware of him being immediate family. He was only very slightly upset about not having a nephew to spoil. Of course that didn't stop him from teaching the boy a prank or three. Minato never stopped griping about it though, saying he didn't want his team to have a bad reputation, so Naruto had recently refrained from teaching the boy anything new, but instead had him practicing his stealth so that he could prank but not get caught.

Last but not least, there was Rin. She was the quiet one of their team, and also filled in the role similar to what Sakura was on his first team. He'd seen her patching up Obito and Kakashi after training and spars, though she never used the Mystical Palm technique so he guessed that she didn't know it. As far as he knew, Minato didn't know the technique either. However he knew in his time she had done Kakashi's eye transplant, so if she did know it now she just chose not to use it for some reason.

Rin must have noticed him looking at her, because she immediately looked away and blushed, a small smile on her face. Naruto couldn't help but chuckle a little... from the moment they met she seemed to have developed a small crush on him. When he tried talking to the girl she always had a hard time looking him in the eye when she responded, not to mention the blush that always began working over her cheeks.

Of course it may also have been some sort of hero-worship, considering who her other two teammates were. Of course there was also the fact that between looks, skill, and general demeanour it was no secret that women stared at both him and Minato whenever they were together in the village. It was cute listening to Kushina and Mikoto growl about it, while conveniently forgetting that they often were stared at as well by the men.

"Any idea when you're going to start doing missions with her?" he heard Minato's voice ask.

It only took a second for Naruto's mind to catch on. "Not any time really soon. Hokage-sama was saying he doesn't want me going out without a full team. He's probably going to give me two more kids to work with before he gives us anything. "

He saw Minato nod out of the corner of his eye. "Makes sense. You're a good teacher, I don't think he'd want you to only have one student."

"I don't really care one way or the other. I'm happy with the one I have. If I get more, I'll adjust." When Naruto finished talking, one of the waitresses came over and took his order. Anko noticed this and rather loudly offered her opinion on what to get, and with a chuckle he decided to get it for them.

As Anko went back to start chatting with the other team, Naruto took a moment to look around. It was a rather busy afternoon, though he believed part of that had to do with the Academy's graduation. People were bustling about all over the place, even though the little dango shop they were at wasn't really on any of the main roads in the village, it was still rather busy. He always imagined villages to be rather quiet during wartime, but Konoha actually seemed to be busier than before. A lot of that may have had to do with the previous arrivals from two years ago, but even after they settled in the village continued growing.

Konoha's current size and relative power when compared to the other hidden villages was likely the reason that none had officially delcared war on them yet, even though Konoha had been running plenty of interference for their allies, especially in Grass, Waterfall, and Rain.

Without warning, one of the village ANBU dropped down into his field of vision, and moved forward swiftly. All of the shinobi present stopped talking and turn to stare, likely to see if they would be the one called. But the way the ANBU was purposefully striding towards him led Naruto to believe that he was the current target. Everyone else started turning back to their business when they realized this as well.

Sure enough, once the ANBU was close enough, he stopped a few steps away and gave a swift bow. "Uchiha-sama, Hokage-sama requests your presence as soon as possible."

Naruto nodded slowly. "Any idea what it's about?"

"No, he just asked me to deliver the message."

"Thank you. Dismissed."

The ANBU immediately disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Any idea what he wants you for?" Minato's question caused Naruto to look at the other blond as he stood up.

"Since Anko graduated..." Naruto shrugged, "Probably something about a team so he can send me on missions, I'd bet."

"Well, let me know when you find out, if you can."

"Of course," Naruto grinned. Reaching into one of the pockets of his vest, he pulled some money out and handed it to Minato. The other blond nodded, knowing that it was to pay for the food that he had ordered but wouldn't get to eat. Honestly, he wasn't that hungry, so it was more for Anko than him.

His eyes sought out the youngest member among their group, only to see her with a questioning expression on her face. Smiling briefly as he walked over to where she was sitting, he gently poked the side of her arm. "You can stay and eat with Team Minato. Don't cause them any trouble, alright?"

Anko answered by giving him a big smile and a 'Yeah!'.

"Good. If you have anything left over and your friends don't want any, just take what's left over back home and Mikoto will show you where to put it."

Once he got another firm nod, he chuckled before looking at Obito. The other Uchiha looked startled at first to be stared at by one of the clan heads, but quickly tried to cover it with a neutral expression that Naruto was getting used to seeing.

Naruto placed his hand on top of Obito's head and rubbed it for a second, since the kid had goggles around his neck for some reason. Just like he expected, Obito immediately scowled and tried to fix it, even though his hair was usually a mess anyway.

"I'm placing Anko under your care, got it?" Naruto stated in mock seriousness.

Obito simply gaped for a second before nodding slowly. "A-Are you sure?"

"If I wasn't, I wouldn't have asked. Keep her out of trouble, but if she doesn't behave let me know later and I'll straighten her out." He tossed a wink to the boy, and was mildly surprised to see the look of acceptance and determination pass across Obito's face.

He ignored the whined 'Daaaaaad!' that came from Anko, but shared a nod with Minato before waving to everyone else and disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

* * *

"Ah, Naruto. I've heard Anko passed the exam at the top of the current batch of graduates. Congratulations for a job well done."

Naruto smiled internally at the praise, but on the outside he tried to keep the smile as nothing more than a twitch on his lips. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen shuffled about with some things on his desk, grabbing two folders and holding them out for Naruto to take a look at. Moving forward to take the folders, he examined the covers, to see a name written on the one on top. It was a name that he recognized faintly, but wasn't very familiar with, even during the war.

"Those two may be of interest to you. Considering what you've done with little Anko, I feel you would be the best instructor for these two as well. You told me you wouldn't be opposed to taking on a team after Anko graduated, and well..."

The Hokage leaned back in his chair as his voice trailed off, and Naruto shot him a mock glare. "I didn't mean the same day she graduated, old man."

Hiruzen merely shrugged, offering the blond a shrewd smile, "Semantics."

Snorting as he shook his head, Naruto opened the file on top, only to see the face of a serious looking young girl. Her hair was dark near the top of her head and was kept at about shoulder length, turning into a lighter violet near the ends.

Uzuki Yuugao was not a name he heard often back in his time. About the most that he knew was that she was once in ANBU under Kakashi and had a boyfriend who was killed when Sand and Sound villages invaded them during the Chunin Exams. He didn't know where she was during the war, and could only guess that she was killed as he didn't remember hearing of or about her at any time other than when Kakashi would tell stories about old missions he had been on.

Apparently she had also just graduated this time around, and was ranked sixth in her class. Her focus was almost entirely on offense, and according to teachers notes she seemed to have taken a liking to using a sword. However it seemed that this desire of hers only appeared within the last few months, so she was still a complete novice. Otherwise she was perfectly competent in all other shinobi aspects.

Closing her file, he tossed it into the chair next to him, then opened the other one. This recent graduate was a complete unknown for him, though the last name did ring a few bells. One was because of the name of the bijuu that had been sealed into him for years, and another because it was the clan name of a group of experienced genjutsu users that lived in the village. When he was younger he had to help the current heiress, Kurama Yakumo, overcome her own nightmares.

This boy was Kurama Takuya, and he had already shown promise when using genjutsu. He was a little underwhelming with other, more physical aspects of being a shinobi, but that was understandable considering where his focus lay. Apparently the boy also had near-perfect chakra control, which would make him a good healer, should he be willing to pick up a few things. Other than that, everything else seemed rather average – his graduation ranking was even in the middle of his class, at fourteen.

"So you want me to take these two on, Hokage-sama?"

"Yes. I was checking over Anko's graduation file and noticed that she very nearly excels at every category except chakra control. She would be the perfect balance between the other two selected there. Yuugao has been focusing on more offensive aspects, while Takuya is more of a defensive type."

Naruto let out a sigh before nodding and grabbing the file he had tossed on the chair. Placing them together, he handed them back to the Hokage. "If you think it's a good idea, then I'll do it. When do I need to get them?"

Accepting the files, Hiruzen chuckled. "Later this afternoon, around three. The graduates were told to gather again after being dismissed this morning to get their congratulations from family and peers. I'll be having a brief meeting with the other Jonin-sensei shortly."

"Enough time for me to warn my wife and apprentice I'll be getting a team, then take a nap. I like it."

Hiruzen snorted, then began to chuckle. "Whatever you want. You've got a little over an hour. Don't make your students wait too long."

Naruto grinned as he reviewed his own memories of having to wait nearly two hours for Kakashi to appear on their first day as a team. Mikoto would kill him if he was ever that late to anything. No wonder Kakashi always remained single.

Bidding the Hokage farewell, he quickly made his way home to relay the news to his wife. After that, he'd take his nap, because if his old team was any indication, it could be a very long day.

* * *

"Yuugao! Yuugao! Are you excited?"

The purple-haired girl turned her head to look at her good friend, Maki. "Of course I am."

Maki frowned, "You don't really look like you are. Are you daydreaming about your crush again?"

"S-Shut up! I am not!"

"Ahhh ha! I think that just gave it away! You're so cute when you blush!"

Yuugao groaned, trying to hide her face as she turned away. She knew she shouldn't have said anything about her recent interest to any of her friends. She didn't even know his _name_, and only saw that he was really good with a sword. It was amazing to watch him dance around with his weapon, fighting invisible enemies. It looked so graceful, and she wanted to be able to do the same thing.

As a result she made the decision to pick up the use of the sword over the last three months of her Academy education. There wasn't really anyone at the school willing to teach her yet, so she had been trying to teach herself through books and from observing others using weapons. She only hoped now that she got a teacher who could teach her a few things, or at least point her in the direction of someone who could.

While Maki apparently decided to let go of any comments about Yuugao's latest crush, that didn't stop her from asking anything else. "So, who do you think they're going to team you with? I hope I get put with Ryu. I hear he was second place in the class. Not only that, he's dreamy too."

Yuugao tossed a wry look at her friend, but Maki was too busy staring and sighing at a boy sitting a few rows in front of them who was talking animatedly to two of his friends. While, yes, he was smart and rather good looking too, she came from a family with a long history of shinobi service. If she was going after boys instead of concentrating on her studies, her family would be rather disappointed. Of course that didn't stop her from admiring her newest crush, the fact that he was so good with a sword was a bonus.

Any other thoughts or comments from Maki were cut off as their Chunin Instructor entered the room, quieting them down. As everyone moved back to their seats, he began speaking.

"First, let me offer everyone in this room a heartfelt congratulations. You've all passed the graduation exam as well as the accelerated courses, and made me very proud. You're done here for now, though keep in mind some teachers may have their own tests to make sure you can all cut it on the field and not just in the classroom. The climate out there in the world is currently open warfare, though our village has not gotten completely involved yet. Your various sensei's will want you to be able to operate as complete units.

"With that said, all of the team leaders are currently waiting outside this door. Be ready to work hard, because there is a lot to do in preparation for things to come. With that, I-"

His words were cut off as the door to the classroom slid open, and a young girl with hair nearly the same color as her own entered the room and promptly closed the door again behind her. She gave everyone a big smile before looking at the instructor.

"Sorry to interrupt, but my sensei said I should come and wait in here for when the rest of my team is announced."

Yuugao watched on as her instructor chuckled and pointed at one of the empty seats near the front. "Sure thing, Anko-san. Have a seat right there in the front."

It didn't take long for whispered conversations to start at that, and Yuugao found herself getting a bit excited too. There were rumors in the beginning that she was being trained by a big-shot jonin, but it was all very hush-hush. For two years she'd heard rumors, not to mention that no one really saw much of Anko at all anymore. Then, just the other day, she had entered into the Graduation Exam with Yuugao and the rest of her class. Most were shocked, and nearly everyone expected her to fail right away. Much to everyone's surprise - including the teachers - she had gone ahead and graduated right at the top of the class. Yuugao thought it was amazing that Anko could accomplish that feat, even after having never spent a single day in school, and only being trained by her master.

After the test was concluded, Mitarashi Anko was more than happy to tell everyone she was the apprentice for the one and only Uchiha Naruto. As a result, virtually everyone agreed that it wouldn't have been such a surprise that she passed the test if they had known. If for some reason a person didn't know who Anko was, they _definitely_knew who Naruto was. The man wasn't called the right hand of the Hokage for no reason.

"Yuugao!" Maki elbowed her in the side, quickly grabbing her attention. "I still want to be on Ryu's team... but... but... I want to be on Anko-san's team! Could you imagine being taught by Uchiha-sama?"

All Yuugao could do was nod, of course she'd want to have Uchiha-sama as a teacher. But he would probably take one of the most well-rounded teams, and since she only placed highly but not at the top, it was unlikely that she would be put there. Still, she could dream. She was about to respond to her friend, but the instructor began announcing teams so she remained silent.

"Team One is the following: Tamagashi Ryu, Mitokado Juuichi, and Hanataba Maki."

Maki's squeal was sharp, but immediately silenced as the girl slapped her hand over her mouth. Everyone in the class was looking at her, and she slumped down in her chair as her face turned bright red.

Clearing his throat, the Instructor shook his head as he continued, "Your Jonin-sensei is Ugana Mio.

"Team Two is still in rotation from last graduation, so Team Three will be..."

Yuugao kept one ear on what the Instructor was saying in case she heard her name, but otherwise turned to look at Maki, who was slowly sitting back up and trying to ignore anyone still looking at her.

"Well, at least you got one of the things you wanted, right?" Yuugao whispered. Maki looked at her friend and smiled briefly, but then her eyes shifted to looking back down the row to where Ryu was sitting. He must have been looking up at her, because Maki's eyes went wide and she immediately looked back down into her lap.

Yuugao struggled to keep from laughing, but somehow she managed. Shifting her full attention back to the front of the classroom, she tuned back in just as the Instructor was finishing announcing Team Five. Six was apparently still in rotation as well, so next up was Team Seven.

"Team Seven will be Kurama Takuya, Uzuki Yuugao, and Mitarashi Anko. Your Jonin-sensei will be Uchiha Naruto."

Yuugao felt her heart stop. She would be having _the _Uchiha Naruto as her Jonin-sensei? This was like a dream come true, but she didn't think that she really deserved to be placed on a team under him. Sure, she was one of the top of the class, but she didn't really stand out in any areas. Not only that but she didn't know if he'd want to keep her if she insisted on using a sword, which she really wanted to do-

"Yuugao! Congratulations!" A furious whisper in her ear brought her thoughts back into focus as she turned to look at Maki, who was giving her a huge smile. "Who would have thought you'd be on his team?"

When Yuugao didn't respond and instead stared straight ahead, Maki chuckled and continued listening to the rest of the teams being announced. Meanwhile, Yuugao's eyes had sought out Anko, and was wondering why the girl was looking back at her with a big grin on her face. The only legitimate reason she could think of was that Anko already knew who was on her team and what they looked like.

However, as the Instructor finished announcing the teams and congratulated them all once again, she found herself quickly not caring as the first Jonin-sensei entered the room and Maki waved goodbye. She was going to be on Uchiha Naruto-sama's team. Even if he didn't want to keep her for whatever reason, she'd learn everything she could as fast as he was willing to teach.

* * *

Naruto grinned as he walked behind his new team. They were on their way to Training Ground Seven, otherwise still known as his home away from home. Most of the time each team was assigned their own individual ground that matched their team number, but occasionally some teams had to share. For whatever reason, Team Seven was only allocated to what were considered 'special cases', and that included one of the largest training grounds.

Hiruzen's old team was Team Seven, as was Jiraiya's. Strangely, Minato was on Team Five, but Kushina was on Team Seven. After Kushina's team 'graduated' , there had been no further Team Seven until now. It had been a few years. For some reason he could have sworn that Kakashi was on Team Seven in his time, but they were instead Team Six that was still in rotation from the last graduation.

He watched as Anko chattered away at Yuugao, who at least appeared to be giving the slightly younger girl her full attention. Takuya was a step or two behind the girls, apparently listening in as well but not commenting.

Other than telling his new team to head for the training ground, he hadn't said a word. He'd noticed Yuugao sneak him plenty of glances, and even Takuya had glanced at him a few times, but neither of them had said another word or tried to approach him in any way. He had a number of guesses as to why, but for the moment simply chalked it up to them being incredibly nervous around him. Thankfully Anko was as talkative as she was, otherwise the silence may have made things even more awkward than they already were.

Upon arrival at the training area, Anko hopped over and sat down in the middle of a small clearing. It was her usual spot when she was here training with him. She beckoned them over, but both of his other charges glanced back at Naruto to see if they should.

"Go ahead and have a seat," Naruto smiled at them both, "We'll go ahead and get started with introductions, and then move on to what we need to accomplish as a team."

Yuugao and Takuya immediately moved to sit down next to Anko, one on either side.

"I guess since I'm your team leader and trainer, I'll get started. My name is Uchiha Naruto. I like ramen, my wife, my clan, Anko, my friends, and the village. My immediate goal is to make you three the best team to ever come out of Konoha. My dream is to bring peace to the shinobi world, retire, and have lots of grandkids."

Yuugao and Yakuya were just staring at him, wide-eyed, while Anko was simply looking at him with a small smile. Not surprising since Anko already knew all of that, but he'd have to bring Yuugao and Takyuya back down to earth and not place him on some kind of pedestal. Respect was fine, but he didn't need worship.

"Anko, why don't you go next?"

"Okay!" Anko chirped. "My name is Mitarashi Anko. I like dango, my mom and dad, Minato-sensei and his team, and Kushina-oneesan. My goal is to be a Chunin before I'm ten. My dream is to be known all over the world as one of the strongest kunoichi ever!"

She grinned, looking back and forth between her two new teammates. Takuya looked slightly amused, while Yuugao was appraising the other girl with a critical eye. Before anyone else could say a word, Naruto pointed at the Kurama boy.

"Okay, Takuya. You next."

The boy looked at everyone one time before nodding his head. "My name is Kurama Takuya, of the Kurama clan. I like genjutsu, my brother and uncle, and helping and healing people that need it. My immediate goal..." Takuya's voice drifted for a moment and he looked up into the trees for a moment, "... is to master my clan's genjutsu techniques. My dream is to get the clan to focus on more than just genjutsu, so we aren't looked down upon by other clans in the village."

Naruto hummed thoughtfully. Being honest, other than Yakumo, he didn't really know anyone from the clan well... heck, he didn't really ever get to know Yakumo well either. After he had helped her get the Ido under control, the Kurama clan appreciated what he did but they didn't exactly want him hanging around. He didn't understand it then, but now that he was older and thought about it, perhaps he wasn't the kind of permanent influence they wanted around the girl. He knew well just from being married to Mikoto that clan politics dictated a lot about the ways clans operated, and he wasn't exactly someone noteworthy then. They probably didn't want Yakumo gaining any further interest in him.

Nodding at Takuya, he moved his attention to Yuugao, who squirmed a little and wouldn't look him in the eye. "Your turn, Yuugao."

"Y-Yes. My name is Uzuki Yuugao. We're not a clan, but my family has a long decorated history of serving as shinobi even before Konoha existed, and I am of the sixth generation. I like training, spending time with family, and swords. My goal is to become a master in kenjutsu. My dream... is to be a respected member of ANBU so I can protect my home, and to have a family someday."

"Excellent goals and dreams, all of you. For our first order of business, I will tell you all that there will be no further testing. We are officially Team Seven right now. Understood?"

Anko simply grinned while Yuugao looked stunned. Takuya, however, slowly raised a hand.

"You don't need to treat this like a classroom, Takuya-kun. Just ask."

"O-Okay. Uhm, are you sure we don't need to be tested? Our instructor made it sound like all the teams would be tested again."

"They can be, sure," Naruto shrugged. "But it's our prerogative as Jonin-sensei. I've already been training Anko for the past couple years so I know what she's capable of. Neither of you realize it but the Hokage picked both of you specifically to be placed on my team. I have faith that none of you will let me down. Will you?"

All three of them immediately shook their heads negatively.

"Good. Then that's all I need. I will train you all into the ground, but you'll be better off for it. One thing I want to tell you all is that you can relax around me. Yes, I'm the husband of the Uchiha clan leader, and have fought bijuu and jinchuuriki and lived to tell the tale, among other things. But I'm still Naruto. So there will be none of that 'Uchiha-sama' stuff when you're around me. It's either Naruto or Naruto-sensei. Understood?"

The three of them immediately agreed vocally, two of them calling him sensei while the third called him father. Needless to say, the other two couldn't help but stare at Anko, who was grinning cheekily. Naruto simply gave her a deadpan stare.

"What dear Anko means is that I've tried to adopt her in the past but because of clan laws being what they are, I cannot apprentice someone in my own clan. So she kept her name, though we still have something of a strange father-daughter relationship. That _does not_mean, however, that she will be getting any special treatment from me."

"Awww, you're no fun!" Anko stuck her tongue out at Naruto, only for him to sigh and rub his forehead.

"Anyway, all of you can take the rest of the day off. Get some good rest, because training starts in full force tomorrow. I'll be talking with all three of you to see what you'd like to specialize in, and we'll go from there. Any questions?"

When there were none, he simply nodded and dismissed them. It didn't take long for the three to leave. Smiling as he watched them go, once the last one was out of sight he turned his head towards one of the trees nearby.

"Going to sit up there all day, are you?"

There was a faint laugh followed by the rustling of branches, and then Kushina appeared at the bottom of the tree trunk. She had her long hair done up in some incredible braids... it made him wonder just who had the patience to do that.

"No fair, Aniki. No matter how hard I try to hide myself and Kyuubi, you can always find me."

Naruto grinned at her and let out a chuckle. "Let's just say that I cheat when I find you. Your presence is like a beacon to me."

Kushina stopped walking towards him, and began to look at him curiously. Naruto knew that comment caught her off-guard, if only because it had been a while since he had mentioned anything about it. "Is this about my special chakras again?"

Naruto had been training quite a lot with his 'sister', especially over the course of the last year. While she had been participating in plenty of missions, as a jinchuuriki they didn't want her wandering too far from Konoha proper, and Kushina knew this as well. Therefore her opportunities to take anything above C-Rank were very few and far between. While Minato was busy with training to be Hokage and Mikoto was working with the Uchiha clan, Naruto took Kushina aside to get her up to speed, combat-wise.

She was a brawl fighter, much like he used to be, though she was able to work her chakra chains into her techniques. With some experimentation Naruto found that he was able to use the chains as well, though he needed to use more concentration than he was willing to spare in order to get them to work. It was one of the things that probably made Kushina's chakra special... even if she wasn't the best at controlling it, hers seemed to be incredibly versatile and she didn't really need to concentrate at all. She just thought about them and they did what she wanted.

Needless to say, she believed only someone with Uzumaki chakra could even make the chains and not be completely exhausted, so if she had ever had any doubts about him not being of Uzumaki blood it was immediately eliminated. Naruto wasn't entirely certain how much truth there was to that, but since he didn't have any factual evidence to the contrary, he let it be.

When she had seen how quickly he managed to train Anko, she had requested that he train her a little as well when he had time. Naruto was more than happy to oblige, as he was approaching the time that he was going to tell her about Kurama. In order for her to get along with and use Kurama's chakra without hurting herself, though, she needed to have a certain mindset. He was doing his best through training to prepare her, especially to be open-minded. If she went off on Kurama when they were to be officially introduced, the bijuu might not work with her on principle. They had been partners for years, but he couldn't speak for the oversized fox and it would likely be at least somewhat grumpy from being locked away so long - even thoughthey both agreed it was highly likely that would be the case.

Having worked with Kushina for a little over a year now, he was confident in her abilities as a kunoichi, especially when it came to tai and ninjutsu. Her fuuinjutsu was leagues above his, though she promised to help teach him in exchange for everything he had been helping her with. In the last two months she had followed up on that promise, and began tutoring him in the esoteric ninja art.

She had also mellowed out quite a bit from the rambunctious teen she used to be. That wasn't to say she no longer had wild moments, because she certainly did – but she was much more calm in general, and looked at life a little more seriously. Mikoto and Minato both agreed with him, and after further discussion with his wife and Hiruzen, they agreed it was time for Kushina to know about Naruto's alternate future and be trained as a Jinchuuriki.

Sighing out loud, the blond pushed a hand back through his short, spiky hair. "It's actually good that you came to spy on my new team, because I need to talk to you about a couple things that are going to sound pretty crazy. All I can do is ask that you give me time to explain, and I'll answer all your questions. I can also promise that what I have to say and do will not hurt me, you, or anyone else in Konoha that we care about. Okay?"

Kushina's expression went from curious to wary, and her posture shifted to the defensive, but was otherwise standing her ground. After staring at him seriously for a moment, she slowly nodded her head. "What is it?"

Taking a deep breath, Naruto made sure to look directly into her dark blue eyes.

"I need to talk to the Kyuubi."

* * *

A/N: Depending on how the Tobi reveal goes, I may or may not be editing things around chapter 15-ish, so there may be some delays with future postings in about 3 weeks. Only a chance of that though, we'll see. I may just leave it as is, but people who don't read A/N's will still bitch about how 'this didn't happen that way!' or 'that's impossibru!' blah blah blarg.

Whatever. In other news I may post a one-shot chapter about the development of Naruto and Mikoto's relationship simply because a lot of people seemed rather put-out about it seemed rushed. We'll see.

More news, reviews, and infos at paradoxjast . blogspot . com


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"It's about time you showed up, Naruto. Do you know how uncomfortable it is being held like this? I know you needed to take your time for obvious reasons, but it was starting to get ridiculous."

Naruto winced as he looked at Kurama's condition. The fox was being held up against a huge earthen-looking sphere. Large stakes had been driven through each of his four extremities, all of his tails, and a large one right through the middle of his gut. If that wasn't enough, to add insult to injury he was also being held down by Kushina's chakra chains.

The blond turned to his future mother, only to see her staring at him, open-mouthed.

Naruto simply stared back, nonplussed. "What?"

Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she pointed at him and exclaimed, "The fox knows you! How? Why did this never get talked about all those times before when we were training?"

"You mean you _still _haven't told her anything yet? Idiot!"

Naruto shot Kurama a small glare. "You know I couldn't. We talked about it before. Besides, it's not like you said anything either. Can you see anything from here at all?"

"No. It's too muffled, unless Kushina decides to visit me for some reason. But since she has no reason to other than to check the seal, I don't see her much. It's not like we ever really talked, either. You know my history."

Holding back a sigh, Naruto instead frowned slightly before nodding at the fox bijuu. Turning back to the redhead, the frown was quickly replaced by a smile at the utterly flabbergasted expression on her face. She focused on him when she saw him point at the fox.

"Do you think you can let the poor guy down? That looks uncomfortable."

"Damn right it is. Nothing like getting an itch and not being able to scratch it. Not to mention a constant stomachache."

Kushina looked too stunned to be able to say anything coherent, though her expression eventually evened out as she sighed. Rubbing her forehead, she simply looked back and forth between the fox and the person she looked towards as an older brother. "This is a dream, right? It's all a dream, and I'm going to wake up any minute."

Naruto couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped his lips. "I'm afraid not. There's a bunch of things I need to tell you, but first... don't make me get down on my knees and beg you to let Kurama down."

"Why do you want... wait, wait... Kurama?"

"Yeah." Naruto jerked his thumb back over his shoulder, in the fox's direction. "That's the fuzzball's name after all."

"Hey! I'm not a fuzzball, brat! I swear, when I get down from here..." the fox let out a decent growl, but it amused Naruto far more than it scared him. Even if Kushina was willing to let the bijuu down, it appeared as though she was quickly deciding to keep him chained up.

Realizing he had to do something about it, the blond thought of something that he believed would make Kurama seem a little less... imposing. Leaning forward conspiratorially, Naruto cupped one of his hands and held it against the side of his mouth, whispering loudly, "So he says. I just think he's a big fuzzball that likes to be rubbed behind the ears, but you didn't hear that from me."

His whisper, if one could call it that, wasn't quiet in the least, and Kurama's enhanced hearing could easily pick it up. The bijuu continued with his low growl, but didn't say anything. Kushina, on the other hand, was now staring at the fox with something resembling awe.

"Pet... behind the ears, you say?"

Naruto nodded slowly as he leaned back and away, looking like the cat who got the canary. "Uh-huh. If you get the right spot, sometimes his back leg does this little kicking thing..."

Kurama stopped growling and quickly looked away, scowling but obviously embarrassed. At almost the exact same time, Kushina let out a squeal, then immediately removed the chakra chains without another thought. Lifting up her shirt so that her midriff was exposed, she made a twisting motion in front of her abdomen. Naruto observed as the seal darkened and the swirl in the center extended, stretching out beyond the boundary line of the original seal. Before it got too far, however, a fancy script appeared around the outside of the old seal line, stopping the swirl before it expanded too far.

Naruto turned to look up at the bijuu, and watched as the stakes disappeared one by one. The earthen ball behind Kurama began to crumble, and then both it and the bijuu fell to whatever invisible surface it was that they were standing on.

As Naruto moved over to greet his old friend who began to stretch, he beckoned for Kushina to follow him. She did quickly fall into step behind him, though she still kept her distance.

Once he got close enough, he held up his fist at Kurama, who had finished stretching and settled to look down at the blond.

"Yo! Sorry it took me so long to get here. I've tried to get as much done as I could before I came to get you, since I knew that once I did that things would begin to change drastically."

Kurama smirked, then moved his large fist to bump against Naruto's, symbolizing their friendship after years of working together."Well, you weren't an idiot for once and actually followed the plan, so I can't complain too much."

Chuckling and shrugging off the barb, Naruto looked over at Kushina, who was pretty much just looking between the two of them in amazement. Waving his hand in the direction of the fox with a great flourish, he said, "Kushina-chan, allow me to introduce you properly to my best friend and partner, Kurama. Also sometimes known as 'His Demon Lordship', 'The Nine Tailed Demon Fox', 'Fuzzball', and- oof!"

Kurama lightly flicked him in the back with a fingernail, sending him sprawling a few feet.

"What have I said about calling me Fuzzball, Birdbrain?"

Naruto climbed back to his feet, dusting the imaginary dirt off his pants as he scowled up at the bijuu. "Hey! I'm not a Birdbrain!"

"Oh yeah? Well what about that time when-"

Kurama's voice trailed off as Kushina bent forward, holding her stomach as she let out peals of laughter. Both Kurama and Naruto looked at each other and grinned, it seemed the first part of their plan to get her to open up had passed.

Still, Naruto couldn't help but feel a bit nervous about what was to come. It was strangely easier with Mikoto, if only because they had no previous interaction, so anything that happened would just happen. His relationship with Kushina was much different though, and he didn't want to strain anything between them. Unfortunately since he took so long to tell her anything about where he came from, it just might.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto decided to begin his tale. If he managed to get away in one piece if she came after him, he'd consider himself lucky. Maybe Kurama would be able to save him. Maybe.

* * *

"So let me get this straight. You're from some sort of alternate universe future where I was your mother, Minato was your father, Rin and Obito were dead, Kakashi was a tardy pervert, and you only ever met Mikoto once but were rivals with and eventually ended up killing her son Sasuke. After sixteen years you and Kurama made up when the _Fourth _war started, and had been fighting it for a few more years before using an old seal from Uzushiogakure that sent you back in time."

The two of them were slowly walking around one of the deserted training areas (Naruto had some clones make sure of that), talking quietly. Naruto nodded slowly, as that was a fairly decent summary over what he had explained in her mindscape. They probably spent about four or five hours talking in the seal, and luckily since their brains worked so much faster than if they were conversing in the real world, to anyone who happened upon them it would have only looked like they were meditating for about fifteen minutes.

Now that they were out, she wanted a quick recap just to make sure that she didn't dream the whole thing.

"That about sums it up, yeah."

Kushina snorted, "It sounds ridiculous. If it wasn't for Kurama agreeing with everything, I don't think I'd believe you. Even having Kurama willing to talk to me after all this time is really weird, but I gave to admit to having known about some pretty crazy things. This is definitely at the top now, though."

Naruto wasn't surprised. He likely wouldn't have believed himself either. Hell, eventually it took him dragging Mikoto to the Hokage to get her to _finally_believe that everything he told her was the truth. She had believed him at first, or so he thought, but over the course of several weeks he began to realize that she likely had a hard time believing every word he said about where he was from. Luckily for him a visit to Hiruzen was all he needed. Hopefully he wouldn't need another for Kushina. Minato would be next, but he had a feeling Minato already knew more, or at least believed he knew more than he let on.

"So, um... Naruto..." Kushina stopped walking, and brought her fingertips up, pressing them together in a timid gesture. "Is it strange for you to look at me and not call me your mother?"

The blond's head shifted to the side a bit when he noticed she was no longer next to him. Her posture was very closed off at the moment, and it reminded him strongly of the Hinata of his time. She was still looking straight ahead, but he could tell that her face had a slightly reddish tint to it.

"At first, yeah," he chuckled. "But it didn't last very long. I had only met you very, very briefly from within my own seal that contained Kurama. I never really knew the you from where I come from. But when I got here I sort of settled into the role of your big brother. It was comfortable, and I could still be close to you without having to worry about messing things up with the timeline."

A short laugh from Kushina cut him off. When he turned to look at her, she shook her head and looked away, trying to hide her face.

"What is it?"

"Nothing... really." She turned to favor him with a shy smile before looking away again. "It's funny to think about it now, but after Mikoto-nee and I heard you talking about us to Ero-Sennin from the hot springs, I started to crush on you a little bit. Of course it was a bit weird because I still loved Minato at the same time, but I was also really interested in you."

Not quite sure what to say to that, Naruto simply settled for scratching at the back of his head and grinning. "Err... I'm flattered, but it wouldn't have worked out."

He listened to her laugh and watched her nod in response. After that, silence settled between them for several moments before she spoke again in a somewhat halting tone.

"U-Um... Naruto... is it still okay if I call you Aniki?"

The blond was quick to nod. "Of course. Besides, when you and Minato have kids I want to be the uncle that gets to spoil them."

When Kushina didn't immediately respond, he was going to ask if something was wrong, but she turned her body in his direction and moved forward quickly, grabbing him into a tight hug. Naruto was surprised at first and eventually came to his senses when he felt her hands clutch at the back of his shinobi vest, hugging him tighter.

He eventually returned the hug. "Kushina-chan?"

"Thank you, Naruto-aniki. Thank you..."

"O-Of course."

They remained like that for a few moments, simply holding each other. Naruto looked around where they were. It was a rather picturesque scene – a few fluffy clouds in the bright blue sky, plenty of green grass below them with trees scattered about here and there. A small stream that acted as a tributary to the Naka river wasn't too far away either, he could hear the faint noise of moving water from where they were.

"So what should I do now?"

"Hm?" Naruto was curious as to what she was referring to.

Kushina released the hug and backed away a step, wiping at her eyes. "I mean, am I the only one that knows this other than Hokage-sama? Of course Hokage-sama knows all this, right?"

"Yes. He was one of the first to know. There are seven others that know... maybe eight, though I've only told five."

"Can you tell me who?" Kushina stopped rubbing at her eyes to stare up at him, obviously eager to find out if it was anyone she knew.

"Sure. Other than Hokage-sama, there is Shimura Danzo, Hatake Sakumo, Yamanaki Inoichi, Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, and Mikoto."

"Inoichi-kun? Really?"

Naruto tapped his temple with a finger. "When I arrived here, he was the one I trusted most from my time to walk my mind. I wanted to extend that trust to now because I know the type of man he will become."

Kushina nodded, tapping at her chin as she looked away. "Mikoto-nee also knows? I know I shouldn't be surprised, but I am. She hasn't said a word to me about it."

"Well, she is my wife, and I didn't want her to marry me and not know who I really am. I think her father also knows some things, but I don't know how much Mikoto and Hokage-sama have told him. I haven't told him anything though, and he hasn't asked either. He just seems to know things. As for not telling you anything... you're the one who does all the talking."

Sticking her tongue out at hime for his last comment, Kushina gave another nod, but didn't say anything further. Silence settled between them once again until an idea popped into Naruto's head. "Hey, I was thinking that it may be possible to change our jinchuuriki seals a bit to allow Kurama's consciousness to travel between us."

"What? How?"

"I still have at least some of Kurama's chakra inside of me," Naruto rubbed his stomach unconsciously, "Though I haven't used any of it, obviously. I didn't need people to start asking questions even though it looks like you've wanted to ask from time to time... I'm pretty sure my control has slipped and you felt it." Naruto grinned a little as Kushina gave him a knowing look and a small nod.

"I didn't really think too much about it before, but now that you mention it... yes."

Naruto grinned. "Anyway, I don't know if the bijuu chakra I have will regenerate without him actually being in my seal. I was thinking of using something similar to Minato's Hiraishin that would allow Kurama to travel back and forth between us. If I can do that, if Tobi ever comes for you then Kurama can just move over to me and there won't be anything to remove from you. He'll just be confused as hell."

Having heard the horrid story of her death, Kushina immediately brightened. "You think that will work?"

"Well, I don't _know _for sure since I've never heard about anything like that being done before, but it's better than nothing, right?"

Kushina thought about it for another moment before finally agreeing. "You're right. It's been a while since I've bothered doing any fuuinjutsu research, and it beats simply training to beat someone that I may never have to fight if we can get it to work. I promise that no child of mine will be without a parent."

She was staring at him so seriously when she said that, he couldn't help but let out a sigh and immediately relax. "Thank you."

Frowning at him for a moment, Kushina asked, "The way you sighed, was that your objective all along?"

"A part of it. I don't want you, or Minato, or Mikoto to die, obviously. But there may come a time or two that I need to borrow Kurama for a mission or to take care of someone or something before it becomes a problem, you know? Assuming we get the transfer to work, I mean."

Thinking about it for a moment, the redhead crossed her arms over her chest as she stared at the blond with a piercing gaze. Knowing what responsibilities he had as a jinchuuriki, he knew Kushina had the same ones on her. The thought of transferring the bijuu to another, even if it was just temporary... Naruto would have immediately shot it down in his time. The only reason Kushina likely hadn't immediately done the same was because of both who he was and who he claimed to be.

"I'm okay with it, on one condition."

One of Naruto's eyebrows raised slightly, "Which is?"

"Teach me to use Kurama's chakra."

Even though that caught him by surprise, he managed to keep his face even. "If you think back, I've already been trying to train you in a way to prepare to use it. I have no problem training you more, and I'm sure Kurama will be more than happy to stretch his legs again. However, there is a condition to your condition. You'll need to befriend Kurama on your own and prove yourself to him before he'll consent to working with you."

"So how do I do that?"

Naruto shrugged. "Start by talking to him and getting to know him. That's what I did, and he's pretty much one of my best friends now."

As soon as he finished talking, Kushina dropped down to the ground and sat with her legs crossed, taking up a meditative pose. "Alright, I'm gonna get started then."

"Don't take things too fast or he'll just get annoyed. Get to know him normally, because he's just gonna ignore you if you try too hard."

Kushina went to reply, but before she could say anything she froze and her eyes went wide. Then she began to laugh.

Needless to say, Naruto was a bit confused. "What's going on?"

"Kurama heard you. He says 'Tell that brat Naruto to shut up, I'm tired of listening to him talk about me.'"

"Tch, next time I see that furball I'm gonna teach him a lesson," Naruto grumbled.

The redhead grinned at him but didn't really say anything, closing her eyes as she shifted into her meditation. Taking this as a cue to leave, Naruto glanced up at where the sun was in the sky. It was high above, which meant that it was probably about time to get to a meeting he was not really looking forward to.

Looking at Kushina one more time, he bent down and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead before heading off towards the Hokage's office.

* * *

"Enter."

Quickly entering the room and closing the door behind him, Naruto took a look around. He wasn't surprised to see that he was one of only three people in the room, the other two being the Hokage and Orochimaru.

A part of him was always antsy whenever the pale man was nearby, but over the years he had gotten used to it. He had been expecting to have some kind of confrontation with the man regarding the status of Anko, but surprisingly nothing happened. That made him wonder why Orochimaru had chosen the girl in the first place. The Anko from his time had remembered nothing about it, but had lost most of her memories of that time anyway and tried not to dwell on it.

"Ah, Naruto-kun. Thank you for showing up. Since you're both here, we can just go ahead and get started a little early."

Naruto nodded his head as he stepped up next to Orochimaru, while the man himself replied with a quiet 'Yes, sensei'.

Seeing them both standing there, Hiruzen leaned back slightly in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. "Orochimaru, would you like to explain the purpose behind your laboratories?"

The snake summoner's head tilted to the side slightly, but he appeared otherwise unperturbed. "I've already explained their functions to you, sensei."

"Yes, about most of them." Hiruzen stared straight at his student. "I'm talking about the two we discovered in sector B4, as well as the one in C7. I don't recall you telling me anything about those."

Naruto was trying to observe Orochimaru without appearing too obvious; currently the man was acting as if there was nothing at all wrong.

"My apologies, sensei... these labs were not really being used for more than storage, so I didn't really think they needed to be mentioned."

The Hokage simply sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Perhaps I should start this conversation another way. Orochimaru-kun, let me formally introduce you to Uchiha Naruto, the Rokudaime Hokage."

Orochimaru turned to look at the blond, first with surprise, but then pure confusion worked its way ontos his face. Naruto would have laughed had the situation not been so serious.

"Roku... but didn't you just decide upon the Yondaime? Not to mention a Godaime."

Hiruzen chuckled, "Well, I know who the Godaime might have been, but it's only a matter of waiting for the war to end before Minato takes up his position full time. But let's not wander too far and instead cut to the chase. Naruto-kun is from the future, and traveled to the past through the use of a very complex seal he discovered in the ruins of Uzushiogakure."

Orochimaru's eyes immediately began to glow, "A seal you say? Can we organize a group to go there and recover-"

The Hokage held up his hand, stalling the comment. "I've already long since dispatched a team to destroy that particular ruin. Naruto-kun is the only one here with the knowledge, and it will die with him unless a situation arises where it is needed. Like the situation he found himself in before coming here."

The pale man simply turned to Naruto, as if waiting for him to continue the explanation. Figuring he might as well, he began to explain, "We were in the middle of the Fourth Shinobi World War. We were losing. Badly."

"Konoha was losing?"

"No. The entire world was losing. It was all of us against one madman."

Orochimaru's eyebrows shot upwards before his eyes quickly narrowed. "Are you trying to imply that it was me?"

"No, you've been dead to the best of our knowledge – or were dead, rather – for about a year before the war started."

_That _comment completely stunned the man, who took an involuntary step backward. "Wh-What? Dead? How?"

"A man named Uchiha Sasuke."

Orochimaru looked between the Hokage and the blond, gauging both for a moment before speaking again. "Am I to assume this little meeting is to ask me for my continued cooperation with whatever I'm doing in exchange for having this... Sasuke... taken care of?"

"That won't be necessary," Naruto began, "since Sasuke will no longer exist as the person I knew him as. He was my classmate. But I'm from the future, remember?"

"Yes, and?"

"He's _Uchiha_ Sasuke. I'm now _Uchiha _Naruto. Not to mention the fact that I've completely – if unintentionally – eliminated the chance of him returning to the way he was by marrying his mother."

"You mean... Uchiha Mikoto?"

"Yes. My wife now was his mother in my past. She had married Uchiha Fugaku."

"I see." Orochimaru was eyeing him warily now. "So what is my purpose for being here?"

Naruto sighed before sitting down in one of the chairs, trying to appear completely relaxed so that he wouldn't set the man any further on edge. If he made him bolt early, there would be no salvaging the situation.

"I convinced the old man here that while you became a monster in my time, you were still a genius. You came up with many incredible techniques that could see quite a few useful and practical applications. The only problem was giving you something that would keep you interested, as you didn't truly become a monster until you started experimenting on children and newborns – taking them from orphanages during the war and sometimes directly from their parents. Even I might have been able to overlook how distasteful that was if you had been taking them from places outside of Konoha... but you took them from in the village too."

To Orochimaru's credit, even he looked rather shocked and sickened from what his counterpart had done. Apparently he hadn't fallen that far yet, which Naruto considered to be a very good thing.

"It's no secret that you had aspirations for the Hokage position, but I'm going to tell you now that you'll have to give that up. It would be pointless to put someone with your talent behind a desk doing paperwork all day. After brainstorming a bit, the old man and I have come up with a few ideas that we'd like to run by you."

The two of them began explaining the situation to the snake summoner, starting from the very beginning of what they knew about him. Naruto had to fill in most of the information based upon the Orochimaru that he knew once upon a time. While they were adamant about him not experimenting on young children anymore, they were still alright with experiments so long as there were no abductions. Asking for volunteers and paying them for their service was something that even Hiruzen was willing to have the village fund, to a certain extent.

The Hokage was also willing to allow potentially lethal experiments on notoriously bad criminals, bandits, nukenin and their ilk. But even that would be under strict observation.

"Essentially we want you to be in charge of a new division within Konoha. You'll report directly to the Hokage, whoever the Jonin-Commander at the time is, and myself. You'll focus on medical advancements and the creation of advanced medical shinobi, while at times also operating under the radar and performing subterfuge."

Orochimaru was sitting there, obviously absorbing all this with glee. The more they put on the table, the easier it was for him to marginalize the loss of having stricter experimentation constraints. The ability to do his own thing

"We realize some experiments may be too risky to keep here in Konoha proper," Hiruzen began, "so Naruto-kun had a pretty good idea. At one point once you left Konoha, you created a village of your own called Sound in Rice Field Country. He says it wasn't a true village, but it was more a series of fortified bunkers and caves that you used for your operations."

The pale man turned to look questioningly at the blond, who nodded. "It's true. I'd suggest that you recreate at least some of what it was soon after the war ends, and make better use of the Fuma clan than you did last time around. Not only that, but I have a list of people who you should keep an eye out for that worked under you before, and perhaps would be willing to again. Keep in mind a lot of them aren't even born yet, so you'll have to wait a few years for the largest bulking up of your division.

"Unlike when you made Sound, you'll have the backing of Konoha after this. A lot of the other villages will be upset with us making bases all over, but by the same token we've held back from this war because the other villages know how powerful we are now. Once we do enter the war, the ending will be swift and decisive, so no one will bat an eyelash when we tell them it's the best way to make sure peace is maintained."

It was a stretch to ask the man to wait that long, not to mention how obvious it was that they were telling Orochimaru he could do his own thing outside of Konoha proper so long as he didn't go against them. Naruto knew it, Hiruzen knew it, and it was obvious to the both of them that Orochimaru knew it. "I see. Is there anything else?"

Naruto and Hiruzen looked at each other, and the Hokage gave the blond a short shake of his head. Naruto turned to look at Orochimaru once again, "Not right now, no. Start coming up with plans and pass it by us, and if you have any questions about the future you can ask me. I'll tell you what I can, but keep in mind that I would still like to keep things as close to the original timeline as possible so we can have some kind of warning about what will happen. There are already a bunch of things that have changed so as time drags on, I'll be doing more guessing than anything else."

"I understand." Orochimaru looked towards the door, and then back at the Hokage. "If you'll excuse me, sensei, I have many plans to write down that I shall run by you and Naruto-san later. Am I permitted to ask Tsunade and Jiraiya for assistance?"

"So long as you do it tomorrow. My next meeting is with those two, to bring them up to speed."

"Yes, sensei. Thank you." Orochimaru gave Hiruzen a quick bow before turning to Naruto and doing the same. Once done, he promptly moved to exit the room, likely excited about future prospects.

"I think that went well."

Naruto nodded towards Hiruzen, "That it did. I was trying not to imagine all sorts of horrible scenarios. But since he'll be having constant consultations with the both of us, we will hopefully be able to keep him well behaved and helping us this time around."

"I agree. If not, I have confidence that you or I would be able to put him down. Anyway... would you like to go get something to eat before our next meeting?"

"Sure, anything in mind?" Naruto began to stretch as he stood up from the chair, trying not to think about what he was told the last time Sarutobi tried to 'put Orochimaru down'.

"Well, rumor has it that there is this really good ramen stand that you and Minato often visit..."

* * *

The meeting with the other two members of the Densetsu no Sannin went exactly as Naruto had expected it to. Jiraiya was all over him asking about the success of his novels, while Tsunade merely took it in stride, claiming that there were several suspicious things about him that never quite added up. Still, she chose to trust him considering his position in the village and the fact that her sensei obviously trusted him. It also explained why he insisted on continuing to use ridiculous nicknames for them.

Their meeting was shorter than the one with Orochimaru, but no less important. Tsunade agreed to start a regimen and work with Orochimaru to get more medical ninja into their active roster, while Jiraiya had agreed with Naruto about finding Nagato once again before the Third War got into full swing. Hiruzen, meanwhile, was going to have a long talk with Danzo and try to keep any ideas out of his head about conspiring with Hanzo. Naruto was fuzzy on the details, but he gleaned enough from the chat he had with Nagato to know that it was one of the man's major turning points – if not the most important one.

At least those meetings were interesting, if not only because he was changing fate, but because they were largely important and he knew that doing these things now would make the future a better place. The meeting he was in now, sadly, was nowhere near as entertaining.

**"**-all we were able to get from them, Mikoto-sama. My apologies."

The blond watched as his wife shook her head and sighed. "It's understandable, Takeru-san. I can understand why they wouldn't want to move. I'll go talk to them tomorrow and see if we can come to an understanding. Is there anything else?"

**"**No, Mikoto-sama."

**"**Very well. Dismissed."

The young man named Takeru rose from his kneeling position, and upon offering Mikoto and Naruto both a quick bow, he left the room and closed the sliding door behind him. As soon as the footsteps of his departure completely disappeared, Mikoto let out a huge sigh and leaned back, sprawling across the floor.

**"**Tired?" Naruto couldn't hold back a chuckle.

Mikoto simply tossed him a half-hearted glare. "Of course I am. Listening to people whine and complain would take it out of anyone."

**"**True. At least there isn't nearly as much when you first took over a year ago."

All he got in response was a grunt, causing him to smile. It was true that there was less and less for her to do, which he interpreted as a good sign. They'd been making huge strides in getting the clan to be rather self-sufficient and not reliant on those in charge to take care of everything. There were still complicated matters that had to be brought before him and Mikoto, of course... however they were slowly but surely shrinking in number.

**"**Mmmm... Narutooooo..." his wife moaned as she stretched.

**"**Yes?" Naruto graced her once again with an amused smile.

Mikoto rolled over so that she was facing him. "I've been doing some thinking lately."

Naruto waited for her to continue, but she didn't. She had her eyes closed and an expectant expression on her face, as if she was waiting for him to ask...

**"**About?"

Her eyes immediately opened and she smiled at him. "I want to start a family. Having Anko around has been making me think about it more and more."

The blond felt his heart lurch at that comment. It had always been a dream of his, and there was no doubt whatsoever that they could afford to start a family, but he had made a habit of respecting Mikoto's wishes and rarely pushed his own ideas upon her unless she asked for them. He had been ready for a kid six months into their marriage, but Mikoto wanted to wait until they had the clan firmly under their control. She didn't want either of them to have to deal with a child on top of their current responsibilities. It was a good choice, as the stress from her taking on the leadership of the Uchiha clan could have posed problems to her health and that of her child... something he wasn't willing to risk.

Ninja life was already stressful enough.

**"**If you feel you're ready, then I'm good to start whenever you are."

**"**Really?" Mikoto chuckled, and her smile turned into a sly grin as she adjusted herself from where she was laying. Rolling over completely, she got onto her hands and knees and started crawling towards him. "What if I said I wanted to get started right now?"

Naruto's eyebrows had almost jumped up all the way to his hairline. "W-What? Here? Are you serious?"

**"**Mmhmm." Mikoto was taking her time getting over to him, moving slow and sensuously while staring into his eyes. Where had the nervous Mikoto gone when they were first starting to get to know each other?

Oh, right. That Mikoto had disappeared once she and Kushina had somehow gotten ahold of one of Jiraiya's Icha Icha manuscripts - probably one he had been proof-reading for the man. Once she figured out exactly how much power she could hold over him, she never let it go.

Not that he was complaining. Of course not.

**"**Shouldn't we at least, I don't know... block the door?"

**"**I have no more scheduled meetings. No one else should even be in the building."

She had finally reached him, and slowly pulled herself up by placing her hands on his shoulders.

**"**That's true, but isn't there always that one last person that shows up with an emergency when you least expect it?"

**"**Hmmm... I'm still finding myself not really caring."

Mikoto had managed to climb up and into his lap now, and straddled him, wrapping her long legs around his waist. Her hands began playing with the zipper on the front of his vest, slowly pulling it down.

**"**We _do _tend to make a lot of noise, you know? I haven't put up silencing seals around here, so don't you think tha-"

His speech was cut off as Mikoto forcefully kissed him, pressing her body up against his. The kiss itself only lasted for a few seconds before she pulled back, and stared straight at him.

**"**I want a bed, darling."

All it took was a quick one-handed seal and they almost immediately appeared in their bedroom.

**"**I guess it's a good thing I know how to use the Hiraishin. Just don't tell Minato yet, okay?" The wink that followed caused a smile to break the look of surprise on Mikoto's face, but even that smile turned into more of a perverted leer as she forcefully pushed him back on their bed.

**"**You want my silence? It will cost you."

**"**How much?" At this point, Naruto knew she was just playing with him. He couldn't help but be drawn in and play along.

**"**Quite a lot, I'm afraid," Mikoto whispered before she licked her lips. Climbing over him, she started tugging on the zipper of her own jonin vest. "I hope you're prepared, because it's going to take all night to pay what you owe."

* * *

A/N: Posted just in time, it's still Tuesday here! For those of you who read my blog you'll know that it was delayed because I had a long weekend and wanted to clean up some things about the chapter a little more before posting.

Review responses and the like will be posted on my blog, as usual. Taking notes to write a companion piece to this after it's complete, written from the perspective of the other characters and how they see Naruto. Rewritten: B Side.

paradoxjast . blogspot . com


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

_Two years later._

"Are you serious? Water Country surrendered?"

Naruto chuckled at the unbelieving tone of his wife. It sounded much like his own when Hiruzen and Sakumo had confirmed it with him. Grabbing his tea from the counter, he moved over to the table where both Mikoto and son were seated.

Every time he saw his son he thought the whole situation was rather surreal. Mikoto was torn over if she wanted to have their children have the same names as her counterpart from Naruto's future, but in the end decided if they had a son... well, it was meant to be. It did end up being a boy, so once again Itachi was brought into the world. At just about a year and a half old, it was still too soon to see which parent he would take after the most as he hadn't quite lost all his baby fat yet, but if his black hair and dark brown eyes were any indication, it would definitely be his mother. Interestingly enough the child did not have any whisker marks on his cheeks, and after conferring with Kurama about it, they agreed it was because the bijuu was not actually inside Naruto's seal at the time of conception. The fact that trace amounts of Kurama's chakra was still in Naruto evidently didn't mean anything... or at least not enough to have any immediate effects.

"Yes, both Hiruzen and Sakumo confirmed it. I was surprised that it happened so soon, but considering how weak they must be with the loss of pretty much all their bloodline clans... I guess it was to be expected. We still have no idea why they entered the war in the first place, and unfortunately now Yagura is missing."

Mikoto shook her head as she held up the spoon with food in an attempt to keep Itachi from making a mess, which he seemed fond of doing. She knew Naruto was especially upset about that, he had been planning on going in soon to get Yagura out, but the country surrendered the moment they realized Yagura was no longer there. According to Naruto, the jinchuuriki for Saiken was missing as well... he had no idea where they were. That couldn't be good.

Still, it wasn't good dwelling on that, there were still plenty more paths to take."So our secret pact with Kumo worked out then?"

Naruto nodded. "Better than I think anyone would have believed. With us working together, we can force Iwa to stay isolated. They've been focusing more on Suna than us, and I think Wind Country is really starting to feel the pressure. Konoha will just cut Iwa off, while Kumo can either help or go in for the kill. That was the agreement."

"What of Water Country?" Mikoto was desperately trying to keep Itachi from banging his hands on the table, and finally gave up, pulling the bowl into her lap. She tossed Naruto an exasperated look as he chuckled at the predicament. "Would you like to feed him?"

"No, no... I went through the same thing last night." Naruto waved his free hand in a 'no thank-you' gesture. "To answer your other question, we're going to retain control of the country until the end of the war, and then after that we'll release it. They were too weak and never should have entered in the first place. They'll have to rebuild though - they may not ever be considered part of the great five ever again."

"Part of me feels sorry for them... what was the Mizukage thinki- ah! Itachi, don't pull!"

Mikoto had stopped trying to feed Itachi for a moment while he was banging his hands on the table. Apparently he felt hungry again and decided to get his mothers attention by grabbing at her hair and tugging it. Naruto tried not to smile as he watched his wife carefully try to extract her hair from Itachi's little fingers.

"Well, we've known the Mizukage wasn't really himself. From the little knowledge I have, I believe that the Sandaime... or Tobi, or Madara, or whatever name or title he's going by right now - is still alive and active - and has been using the Yondaime as a puppet. Now that his power base has crumbled, however... it makes me wonder what he's going to do next."

"Do you think he'll try to get another Kage under his control?"

"He might try." Naruto gulped down the rest of his tea before continuing, "But there are no other Kage with a bijuu sealed in them and Sharingan mind-control for an extended duration without one is almost impossible. He doesn't have the chakra to hold it for maybe more than a month, and that wouldn't be enough time to put any plans into effect without people noticing a personality change."

Having finally removed her hair from Itachi's hands, Mikoto nodded in agreement. Even though Naruto didn't have the Sharingan, sometimes it amazed her just how much he knew about it. She had to constantly remind herself that he had been fighting at least one person who had a Sharingan for the most of the second half of his life. Some of the tricks he could pull off while they were sparring shocked her. For example, she'd never had anyone fight her by only looking at her hands and feet.

As she helped Itachi finish off his dinner, there was a knock on their front door. Mikoto watched as her husband climbed to his feet to go get it.

It was barely a minute later when he returned with a bright-eyed, smiling Minato. Every time she saw the two of them standing next to each other she would have sworn they were brothers – probably along with everyone else in Konoha - so it was a good thing that she knew what their real relation was. It was an interesting day when Kushina came up to her and the first words out of her mouth were 'My son is hot, isn't he?'. According to the redhead, the look on Mikoto's face was priceless when she heard the question.

She did agree (of course) after finally coming to terms with the fact that it was her husband's future mother that said it.

"Hey there Mikoto! Sorry to bother you tonight." After his quick greeting, he immediately went over to Itachi and started making crazy faces at the little boy, who started squealing with delight and chanting 'To! 'To! - because that's all he could pronounce so far.

"It's fine. Itachi is all fed and will likely start falling asleep soon. What brings you here?"

Minato looked up from where he was kneeling by Itachi for a moment, and glanced between the parents. "Business, I'm afraid. Hokage-sama has asked that Naruto and his team back up mine on our next mission. Kakashi just made jonin and this will be his first assignment as field leader, but Hiruzen suggested a backup team just in case.

"Any particular reason?" Naruto asked.

"Not that he shared with me," Minato murmured. After a brief pause, he continued, "Our mission takes us to Earth Country's border... the Kannabi Bridge needs to be destroyed to keep their forces out of Grass. They'd use it for supply convoys for their operations beyond the border, otherwise. Hokage-sama wants to get a jump on keeping Iwa pinned down without being able to spread, and Kumo will start performing surgical strikes once we've completed a set of objectives."

"But there has to be dozens of bridges, even just along the border of Grass Country alone." Mikoto had picked up Itachi, who was finally starting to show some tiredness. His eyes were drooping and his head was resting against his mother's shoulder.

Minato nodded, "I mentioned the same thing. Apparently this one bridge they want us to take out is the main one in the area and a lot of traffic goes through it. There are no other bridges within at least three days walking distance - the canyon it spans is too large and another bridge would be too costly."

"Even so, shouldn't a surgical team be able to take on this mission? It's just to blow up a bridge. Why do they need three jonin and five chunin to handle it? Will it be that well defended?"

"Hokage-sama wants to be well prepared for any contingencies. He doesn't know what the enemy strength will be like. There could be upwards of a battalion guarding it."

"I still think it's overkill. But if Hokage-sama assigned the mission, then so be it." Mikoto was speaking to Minato, but had been staring at Naruto for most of the conversation.

He had been trying to keep his face in an expressionless mask as he listened in, but judging by the look on her face, he wasn't successful in that endeavor. As his wife finished talking, her attention fully focused on him - it was obvious that she believed something was up. He knew that would happen if he remained silent the entire time.

Minato's voice entered his conscious before he could do anything to try and placate her, "Aww, Mikoto, you're just upset because I'll be tearing your husband away from you for about a week. You'll be fine."

Mikoto's attention shifted to her old teammate, where she pinned him with a hard stare for a moment. Minato visibly shivered when a grin slowly spread across her face. "Yes... and I'm sure Kushina will miss you too. We'll have to come up with something to do while you're gone so that when you return you'll never want to leave again."

Just short of panicking, Minato turned to the other blond in the room, looking at him with wild eyes. "What have you been teaching her? She never used to be like this!"

Naruto simply chuckled. "Who says it's me? I know Kushina-chan is a pretty corrupting influence by herself. Anything else Mikoto picked up, she did on her own."

None of Naruto's words did anything to settle Minato, not that they were intended to. Letting out a sigh, the future Hokage simply waved a hand about airily, and started for the exit. "Right. Now I have to go talk to Kushina and make sure she doesn't do anything while I'm gone. I'll meet you at the main gate with your team at six in the morning, okay?"

"I'll be there."

Naruto watched as Minato exited their house, quietly closing the door behind him. Once out of sight, he turned to look at his wife, who was holding Itachi in her arms while staring at him with narrowed eyes. "I'm going to go put our son to bed, then I think you have some explaining to do."

Without giving him a chance to say anything, she disappeared further into the house, carrying the young boy with her. Once he could no longer see her, Naruto let out a sigh before moving into their living room, getting comfortable on the couch. This mission took him by surprise too... he knew that it would be coming around sooner or later, but the exact timing was unknown to him. On top of that, he only had the faintest of ideas how Kumo was supposed to play a role in all this - when Kakashi was telling him the stories of his past that he could remember from his life before Naruto went back in time, Kumo was just another enemy they were facing.

Now, however, they were unspoken allies. He capitalized on a chance meeting with Ei and Killer Bee in the wild forests of Valley Country. It was just him, Minato, and two other jonin on what was supposed to be early reconnaissance, but with Ei being a bit of a hothead they got into a scuffle. Minato had stunned them with his speed, though with the help of Killer Bee, Naruto managed to get everyone calmed down enough to talk rationally. The four of them went off to talk, and after recognizing the power of the two blonds, Ei agreed that it would be best if they worked together, even if it really wasn't public knowledge that they were allies.

That in turn led to a whole other series of secret meetings, but the deal wasn't sealed until he managed to get Kushina and Killer Bee in the same room. Pulling them all into a shared mindscape, Naruto and Kurama managed to relate what was really going on to Bee, and by extension, Gyuuki. That information was then passed on to Ei and eventually Matatabi, and after another month, the secret alliance between Kumo and Konoha was ratified.

They weren't told the entire truth of where Naruto was from, only that he was privy to special, unique knowledge that he shouldn't know normally. He able to use it to pull the bloodline clans away from Kiri. The fact that Naruto knew how the Sandaime Raikage had been grievously wounded by Gyuuki helped as proof, since very few people even in Kumo knew about it. While this immediately made him a target and a threat, Gyuuki and Bee talked Ei, the soon-to-be Yondaime Raikage, down from doing anything rash. They would be better as allies than as enemies. Besides, it was no secret that the other villages were wary of facing Konoha, especially now.

Iwa refused to back down, and Suna wasn't going to stop until Iwa did. Konoha was supposed to help Suna as an ally, but since Konoha had so far chosen to remain neutral and only help the lesser nations caught in the crossfire, their relationship was quickly chilling. But for the relations they lost with Suna, they gained with Kumo... which was arguably a stronger village than Suna anyway.

"So, I think you owed me an explanation?"

Naruto looked up at his wife as she entered the living room. She wasn't staring any more, but she did seem rather perplexed. Before he could even get started, she plopped down next to him and rested against his side. Between running the clan and raising their son, she was always completely tired by the end of the day. He had briefly thought about hiring someone to help out, but since Mikoto hadn't asked he didn't bother. She had a fierce independent streak and he knew better than to get in her way.

"I only faintly know what this is about. Hokage-sama asked me to tell him everything I remembered about the war, and I also relayed some of future Kakashi's memories too him. So I don't know the details, only the basics. This mission was one of them."

His wife eyed him for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Okay. I just thought you knew more, since you were being so quiet."

"Not really, no." Naruto lifted his arm that Mikoto was leaning against, and draped it around over her shoulders. "This time I was actually being quiet so I knew what was going on for a change."

He heard Mikoto chuckle as she leaned further into him. "You, being quiet and listening? Who are you and what have you done with my husband?"

"Hey!"

Mikoto chuckled again and turned to look up at him, kissing his cheek before settling back under his arm. "So what do you know about the mission other than what Minato said?"

Naruto scratched at the side of his head with his free hand, humming for a moment. "Well, the only thing that ever really stood out when Kakashi told me about it was Obito's death, because it kinda-"

"Wait, what? Obito?" Mikoto had turned from under his arm to look him in the face. All Naruto could do was smile grimly and nod.

"I think that's probably why Hokage-sama also assigned me this mission. I confessed that Obito is the type of person I would consider a huge influence, at least when I take into consideration just how much he changed Kakashi right before his death, and even more after."

He decided to keep the knowledge about Obito perhaps not having truly died to himself. Of all the encounters he'd had with the masked man named Tobi, he did always seem to know a lot more about both himself and Kakashi than he should have. Sadly, they never got to see behind the mask, so it was only educated guesswork as to his true identity.

Mikoto had leaned forward, her forehead resting against Naruto's chest as he chose to continue talking, "One of the things that Kakashi always drilled into us when we were training was that 'Those who fail their mission are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are even worse than trash.' One guess as to who said that."

"Obito?"

"Correct. I know it doesn't really sound like something he'd say, does it?"

Mikoto shook her head as she lifted it, looking amused. "No, it really doesn't. What brought it about?"

Naruto sighed, "From what I can remember, Minato had gone to blow up the bridge while leaving Kakashi in charge to take care of secondary objectives. Something happened and Rin got captured, Iwa was going to try to interrogate her for information. Kakashi wanted to continue the mission and complete it before they found out, but Obito wanted to go after Rin and save her, to hell with the mission. That's where the saying came from. I know his obvious crush on the girl was probably cause for some of it, but... well..." Naruto trailed off, shrugging.

Mikoto stared at her husband for a moment before frowning slightly. "It... sort of makes sense now. So what did they do?"

"Obito left and started tracking Rin. He found her and started attacking the Iwa nin guarding her, only for Kakashi to show up and help them fight. In the process, Kakashi's sword broke and he lost an eye, but they did manage to save Rin. Unfortunately, she was being held in a cave and traps were triggered, starting a cave-in. Obito managed to make sure Kakashi and Rin got out, but he was crushed by rubble. Before his death he gave one of his Sharingan eyes to Kakashi."

Mikoto was silent for a moment. "While it's horrible to hear about Obito's death, it was nice of him to do."

"Yep. Then Kakashi started emulating Obito's qualities in a way to honor him. Of course he chose to do some of the more annoying things, such as being late to everything..."

Naruto trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid. He didn't really need to though, he'd been with Mikoto long enough now to know that if she needed clarification on something, she'd definitely ask. Looking down slightly, he noticed that she had her eyes closed as she leaned against him.

"Tired?"

"Mhmm."

"I don't think anyone would mind if you took a break from clan duties for a while, this way you could spend some time relaxing and being with Itachi."

"Other than you, who could I dump all that stuff on? Definitely not my father, and I don't trust the elders to do things the way we want them done without having to watch every moment." A sigh left her lips as she finished. He had tried to get his wife to take a break before, but it always came down to the same things.

"I think you're running yourself ragged, though. Every day you look more and more tired."

"I know, but we've made so many strides in getting the clan connected to Konoha in ways it never has been before. I don't want to lose any of that momentum, and I'm afraid it will if I take a break."

"That's a pretty irrational fear. You have no way of knowing if things will stall or not."

"Stop it." Mikoto gently slapped at his stomach with an open palm. "I know your tricks, mister. You're not going to goad me into taking time off. We have a plan, and I'll be damned if I take a break before it's done. Besides, it's not like you get a lot of time off either. Considering you're responsible for overseeing the construction of newest, third ring of Konoha, I'd say you could use a break too."

"Okay, okay, you win. Just do me a favor, alright?"

Mikoto shifted her head to look at him, the questioning look in her eyes being all he needed to continue.

"When I get back from this mission, just take one day off. I'll do the same, and we can spend a day together as family. You, me, Itachi, and Anko. How about it?" Before she could reply, he leaned down to give her a quick peck on the lips.

When he leaned back, Mikoto graced him with a small smile. "Deal. I think I can manage a full day if you can."

This time she moved up to kiss him. Hers, however, wasn't very brief at all.

* * *

Naruto was watching on, amused, as the six kids in front of him all began trying to tell each other about how incredibly well they performed in all of their missions up to this point, all trying to outdo the others. Sparing a glance at Minato, he noticed that the other blond seemed to be feeling similar sentiments - if the smile on his face was any indication.

As he listened in, he observed them one by one. Kakashi was only interjecting when necessary, and it was usually just to correct something. Otherwise he was looking around while not being too obvious about it. It was a good thing too, since the silver-haired kid was in charge of this particular mission.

Rin was being quiet, as was Takuya. Naruto idly wondered for a moment if all those who took up healing had a similar temperament, as neither of them were really participating, but obviously listening to the goings-on. To date, Tsunade and Sakura were the only two people in his memory that could heal expertly but were also explosively violent and deadly when provoked. Neither Rin nor Takuya could make a person fear for their life just by glaring at them - at least not yet. He was working on it with Takuya, at least... the kid had some rather scary techniques in his genjutsu repertoire. Rin, though... he had no idea. Hopefully Minato was doing something.

Anko and Obito were the two loudest in the group, as usual. They were the ones who were going back and forth with each other about who did better than who. Naruto could only imagine what it would be like if Tora the cat was alive now... they'd probably be bickering about who caught the cat faster or used a better trap to capture it. He had to admit, however, that listening to who had a better gardening or painting technique never got old. It was too bad that D-Ranks were fairly rare during war time, otherwise they'd probably have some interesting dog walking and babysitting stories as well.

The final member of their group, Yuugao, was taking up the rear of their makeshift formation, and was right in front of him. While he was proud of Takuya and Anko for their own individual reasons, Yuugao was his pride and joy of the team. She was serious, but knew how to relax when there was downtime. She was a diligent student, and would absorb anything he was willing to teach like a sponge. Even her kenjutsu had grown in leaps and bounds - she was very proficient in it since he set her up with an apprenticeship to one Gekkou Noboru.

Apparently he was the father of her new crush, Gekkou Hayate, she happily announced the day after he had introduced them. He found himself in a hug that nearly crushed his ribs before their training started. He had no idea about her crush, but congratulated her and wished her good luck, only for the poor girl to finally realize just what she had said. Her embarrassment didn't last long, since she was just too excited to care.

Now, however, she was studiously watching the surroundings as well, just like Kakashi. It made sense for her to do so, since he knew her goal was to apply for Special Jonin status within the next few months. He had set her up with a list of things she needed to be prepared to do, and she was taking to it like a fish to water.

"Alright everyone, this looks like a good spot to set up camp. Let's set up, then we'll review our objectives for the next two days."

Minato's announcement pulled Naruto from his musings, and he observed as everyone immediately quieted down and began quickly unpacking gear and prepping camp. The moment it was done, he got everyone's attention, and began going over the plan.

"Okay, first – Naruto and I will be performing early reconnaissance on the Kannabi Bridge, just to see what kind of defenses they have there. If it's nothing too bad, we may just be able to take it out on our own. Unfortunately, Sandaime-sama believes they have built up their defenses rather solidly, so we may be calling in for the rest of you to help.

"Until that time comes, Kakashi will be in charge. I've already briefed him on some secondary objectives that need to be taken care of. He'll organize assignments as he sees fit, and if any of you have any issues I expect you to be professional and take it up with him in private. Am I understood?"

All of the chunin present nodded, and Naruto found his own head bobbing up and down briefly. Even in such a small setting as this, Naruto could easily see Minato's future as Yondaime and carrying the same authority that he saw in Hiruzen. He didn't even have to be loud, to the contrary – Minato was generally very soft spoken, always claiming Kushina was loud enough for the both of them. It was just the way the man carried himself that made you want to follow him. Naruto had heard similar things about himself during the Fourth war.

Realizing that Minato had finished, Naruto refocused on the goings-on, only to realize that all of the chunin were staring at him now, probably to see if he had anything to add. Looking at his own team, he gestured at them, "Do you three have your seals primed?"

Anko, Takuya, and Yuugao all nodded simultaneously, each of them holding up their hands, showing the back of them to him. All three had intricate-looking seals inscribed on the back. Naruto didn't need to say anything further, and simply nodded at them.

"I don't think I've ever seen a seal like that. What is it for?"

Naruto turned to look sideways at Minato, who had moved over and casually began looking at the back of Yuugao's hand. The chunin held it up so that he could get a better view.

"It's a summoning array tuned to my chakra, so with a little application of blood they can summon me to their position in an emergency. If they don't have time for that, all they have to do is push a little of their chakra into it and it will act as a beacon of sorts, leading me right to them."

Minato stopped looking at Yuugao's hand and turned to Naruto. "The applications of that sound pretty useful. What's the range?"

Naruto shrugged, "When I was first testing it, I traveled all the way to Uzushio, and I could still feel pulses from Mikoto at home in Konoha."

Minato's eyes widened drastically. The range on it was huge. "How come you didn't say anything?"

"It's still being tested. My team has tried to summon me three times and it has only worked once so far. However the time they did succeed my chakra was a bit drained. So I think it's like when trying to perform a standard animal summon, the more chakra they have, the more you need to summon them. I've been trying to find ways to cut down on chakra usage."

"Have you talked to Kushina?"

Naruto shook his head. "Not really. I've been trying to do this on my own, and Kushina is usually pretty busy." He neglected to mention that he had been training her to use Kurama's chakra for a while now as well as working on a seal for Kurama to travel between the two of them, but there were some things he didn't want to share in front of everyone, even if he trusted them all.

"Well, she's a seal master and helped me out plenty with the Hiraishin, among other things, so maybe if you talk to her she'll have some ideas. In the meantime, can you also add that to my team, or will that take too long?"

Naruto was honestly surprised, and it must have shown on his face. "I can... but what about Hiraishin, I thought you gave a kunai to Kakashi?"

"I did. But I'd feel better knowing that you'd be aware of any potential issues if one of them used the beacon, rather than them using my kunai. I doubt it would happen, but a kunai could always be lost or misplaced. A seal on the back of their hand won't. I'd apply a Hiraishin seal but they fade off after about a day. It sounds like yours doesn't."

Understanding, Naruto nodded, and pulled some ink and a brush from one of his pouches. Kneeling down, he beckoned the three other members of Minato's team over. Each of them formed a line, Kakashi being first. Taking off his glove, he presented his hand to Naruto.

"The principle of the seal is fairly simple. Push a little chakra into it, and it will latch on, constantly draining chakra as it lets me know that you're calling. The amount of chakra it uses is barely a trickle, so unless you're dangerously low on chakra already it's unlikely that you'll feel it," Naruto explained to the three of them as he started painting it on the back of Kakashi's hand.

"You can shut it off the same way if you're really low on chakra, just sever the connection. If you still have a lot of chakra left and can't sense the drain to turn it off, I can when I get to you. The summoning works the same way an animal summon would, but we're still working on fine-tuning it. If you have any questions about it, ask Anko, as I've worked on it more with her than anyone else."

"Got it." Kakashi nodded at him, and when he was done, Obito moved forward for his turn. Rin followed after, and when they were all done, Naruto turned to Minato, asking if he wanted it as well.

"You think I'll need it?"

"It's not really a matter of needing. I follow the philosophy of 'better safe than sorry', or perhaps in this case, better prepared than not. It's up to you, though just to let you know, Mikoto asked me to keep one on her permanently, just in case."

"I see. We can talk more about it when we get home. I also want to bring Kushina in on it, and maybe we can work together and make it a more permanent part of our forces. How about it?"

It was what Naruto had been planning on anyway, so he simply agreed. He had thought about sharing the seal with Minato based upon the man's usage of Hiraishin, but there was always so much other stuff to do that it was fairly low on his list of priorities. But if Minato wanted to look at it more closely, he wouldn't stop him. Kushina was aware of the seal, but he had avoided asking her for too much help as it was something he was trying to learn on his own.

"Alright. Now that we're done here, we'll camp for the night and head out tomorrow. Unless anyone has anything to say?"

No one spoke up, so they settled in for the night. Naruto sent a quick pulse of chakra from the beacon that he had linked to him from Mikoto, and after a minute he felt a response from her. Sleep arrived quickly after that. Tomorrow hopefully wouldn't turn out the same way it did where he came from.

* * *

"Minato!"

The other blond he was traveling with turned his head to look over his shoulder. Naruto was waving him down, telling him to hold up, so he immediately followed his companion down to the forest floor.

"Is something wrong?"

Naruto shook his head, but was staring at Minato oddly. Just when he was starting to get impatient, Naruto let out a sigh and rubbed at the back of his head.

"I was trying to convince myself to wait to tell you about this, but there is no better opportunity than now. We're on a mission and not being observed in the village, and there are no others around to listen in. Since we don't train alone together anymore, I probably could have isolated you in a training area over the years, but I've never really had a good opportunity without making anyone suspicious."

Minato was trying to keep a passive expression on his face, but if Naruto didn't know better he believed the man's mind was going a mile a minute. "Er... okay?"

The time-traveler chuckled briefly, then leaned back against a tree he was standing near. "Mikoto always told me that the best place to start telling a story from is the beginning, and it helped me when I had to tell these things to Kushina as well. It's a bit harder now since it's been so long, but... anyway. I was born on October 10th, a little after the end of the Third Great Shinobi War."

Naruto watched as Minato tried to process what he was saying. It was faintly amusing watching the confusion work over his features, much the same was as it had for Kushina, and Mikoto before her. However, unlike them, it barely took a minute for Minato to come to terms with what this meant.

"So you you really are from the future, then."

The surprise must have shown on Naruto's face, because Minato grinned slightly. "While Hiruzen hasn't explicitly stated so, he's shown me some of his files and made comments about there being more to you than meets the eye. I am the Yondaime Hokage, even if I haven't been officially sworn in yet. I haven't figured out everything about you, but I know you're a special case."

Minato looked away before continuing, one of his hands pushing back through his wild mane of hair. "Well, now that I'm thinking about it, it all makes sense. You arrived in the middle of nowhere, and no one had ever heard of or seen you before. You claimed to come from a clan where no one was left who could verify your story. You're incredibly strong and know things about people that I'd bet you probably shouldn't really know. Besides that, no matter how much you tried to play it off, you knew how to counter the Hiraishin from the very beginning and are still the only one who can. The only reason you would know how to do that is if you know how to do it yourself. You can, right?"

Naruto nodded, slowly, still stunned at how Minato had managed to piece all this together so quickly – even if he had gotten a few hints. "But... how... why did you never say anything before?"

His future father simply shrugged his shoulders, and looked up into the trees. "Sandaime-sama has trusted you for years, so that automatically made me trust you. You're pretty much one of my best friends, and you've never lied to me... well, not unless it pertained to the time-travel, anyway. You've probably done more for Konoha than anyone else alive, except maybe Sandaime-sama, and even that is stretching it. If I didn't know that you don't want to be, if you asked I think they'd be willing to make you Hokage the day this war ends, instead of me."

Naruto found himself wiping his eyes, since they were getting a bit misty. Shaking his head with a smile, he couldn't stop himself from saying, "Thanks, dad."

That particular comment brought Minato up short, but was followed with a genuine smile. Naruto was startled as the other blond moved forward swiftly, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Minato, wha-"

"I wonder how many fathers can say that their son was their best friend?"

His voice was low, but Naruto could hear the emotion behind it. He returned the hug for a moment before they split apart. Minato looked satisfied, like several unexplained things finally had meaning, while Naruto was pretty much just waiting patiently for Minato to unload with any questions or comments he may have had. It didn't take long.

"I guess that explains why I caught Kushina looking at you with a somewhat wistful expression a few times."

Naruto simply tilted his head to the side a bit in confusion, but didn't say anything. He didn't have to, as Minato proceeded to explain, "I asked her about it. The first time she just joked about it and said it was nothing. The second time however, I asked if she was attracted to you, and she simply looked at me and laughed. She admitted right to me right there that you were very good looking, and made an offhanded comment about it being good genes – which at the time I didn't understand. She said, though, that you were very obviously taken and happy, and then she spent the rest of the day showing just how happy she was with me."

Naruto looked away, waving one of his hands, "Yeah, yeah. I'll pass on the details, if you please."

Minato laughed before continuing, "Needless to say I've seen her with that look a few more times, but I've never said anything about it. It all makes sense now though. So how long has she known?"

"I don't know the exact time-frame, but since before Itachi was born. I've been training her to use the Kyuubi's chakra."

"What? How?"

"In the future I come from, you were both dead, and as the last Uzumaki I was made the jinchuuriki. You didn't really have much of a choice at the time, all things considered."

"I didn't? Wait, you mean I was Hokage in your time too?"

"The Yondaime, yes. You will be whenever this war ends, in case you were doubting it for any reason."

"I never really doubted once they started putting my face on the mountain. I know there was some resistance from Orochimaru before my appointment, but what about during your time?"

Naruto leaned back against the tree again, crossing his arms. "Hiruzen and I already have him doing other things that will occupy his time. He and Tsunade are working on some medical advancements that I recall from my time, and trying to replicate them a little earlier. They've already had some success. In my time... suffice it to say he turned into a monster and ran off. He was killed... eventually. Needless to say I don't think I'll ever truly trust him, but the old man and I figured we could at least direct him some before having to kill him, if he still goes bad. Right now he's much more useful alive."

If the other blond was at all surprised he didn't show it. Instead, Minato nodded, but was staring at Naruto intently now. "How many people know about this, why are you here, and what do I need to know?"

Naruto chuckled. "Get comfortable, this is going to take a while. I'll be brief now, obviously, but when we get back, I can go over everything with you, Mikoto, and Kushina to fill in any gaps. Then we'll talk to Hiruzen."

"Understood."

Naruto watched as Minato found a log that had fallen over a while ago and sat down on it. Once he was comfortable, Naruto began his tale of who he was, where he came from, and why he was here now. It didn't take long for Minato realize who was the one person he had to look out for above all others now.

Tobi.

* * *

_Ten days later..._

Naruto walked through the village, heading home. Minato had dismissed them all and had gone to report to the Hokage, requesting to meet up with him and Mikoto later this afternoon. Claiming he had to check with Mikoto first to see if she was free, Minato nodded before departing.

He was incredibly thankful that the mission had gone out without a hitch. The bridge was in fact well defended, but since Minato knew about Naruto now, they were both able to use Hiraishin in tandem to take down any defenders that would have gotten in their way. They made relatively short work of the bridge itself, all things considered. It was amazing how much damage a few well placed explosive tags could do.

As for Kakashi and the rest of the chunin he was in charge of, well... Rin didn't get captured this time, so Naruto was thankful for that. They still got into a few fights, but it was nothing especially risky. All of their engagements were ambushes except for one because the Iwa team had a sensor and were alerted. That didn't stop them however, and Obito finally got his Sharingan to boot. It activated relatively late, and even then it took Anko getting in danger because she wasn't watching her back carefully.

Someone from the Iwa team shot some knives made of stone at the girl, and Obito had to put on a burst of speed to get there in time to make it. His eyes activated as he tried to watch and deflect them, and he knew he wouldn't have been able to block them otherwise.

As a result, Anko was hanging around Obito for most of the trip back. They had gotten along well enough previously, but now she couldn't be kept away from him. All in all, it was a fair bit amusing, as she had acted similarly when Naruto saved her in his future. Obito was taking it all in stride, and everyone was happy for him that he had finally unlocked his elusive eyes.

Even with Anko hanging around him, it was still painfully obvious that the boy had a crush on Rin, though she didn't appear to care. Naruto would keep a lazy eye on that development. It wouldn't do for anyone to be hurting Anko should she choose to go after the boy. She wasn't his daughter by blood, but he'd still put anyone interested in her through the paces. He had earned that right, hadn't he?

As Naruto passed what was once the entrance to the Uchiha District, he noted that it was relatively quiet, compared to how bustling the place usually was. He didn't see anyone that he recognized, now that he thought about it.

It didn't take long for him to reach their home, and immediately upon entering he called for his wife.

"Mikoto? Are you home? I'm back!"

He heard a noise that sounded like something moving from one of the nearby rooms, so kicking off his sandals, he closed the front door behind him and started heading towards it. The moment he started moving, Mikoto came around the corner, a look of grief etched upon her face.

Before he could say anything, she ran down the hallway and threw herself into his arms. He had to take a step backward to keep himself from falling backwards into the door.

"M-Mikoto? What's wrong? Did something happen?"

His wife squeezed him harder, and nodded against his chest as she began to openly sob. Not quite sure what was going on, he decided the best thing for the moment was to hold Mikoto close and rub her back, trying to soothe her.

Another noise from down the hallway made him look up, and he saw Orihime standing there holding Itachi. Orihime's eyes looked a little puffy from what he could tell, and the normally boisterous Itachi was appearing rather subdued as well, though not outwardly distressed.

"Orihime? You're here? What's going on?"

The maid bowed her head as if she was steeling herself, and when she looked up, the sorrow on her face was unmistakable.

"N-Naruto-sama. It grieves me to inform you t-that Mikoto-sama's father, Uchiha Kagami-sama, passed away this morning."

* * *

Years since Naruto's arrival: 4.75

Name::Age::Rank reference  
Naruto - 24 - Jonin General  
Mikoto - 23 - Elite Jonin  
Minato - 21 - Elite Jonin  
Kushina - 20 - Jonin  
Rin - 13 - Chunin  
Obito - 13 - Chunin  
Kakashi - 12 - Jonin  
Yuugao - 12 - Chunin  
Takuya - 12 - Chunin  
Anko - 10 - Chunin  
Itachi - 15 mos. - Badass

* * *

A/N: Putting it here, even though I know I'll get a PM or review question about it - YES, I am caught up on the latest Naruto chapters so I know all about Tobi and Obito. I never had them as the same person, thankfully, but I have to edit a lot to explain some abilities. The next chapter may be delayed a bit, even though there are only a few left.

The bad news - If some of you thought some stuff was rushed before... well... *shrug*

The good news - There will be a continuation of sorts. For those who prefer character interactions now that they will know how this story (short one, compared to my normal) I will be doing Rewritten: B Side. It will be from other characters perspectives, perhaps even some first person stuff if I can wrap my brain around it.

As always, more information and all that good stuff on the blog.

paradoxjast . blogspot . com


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

_Nine days later..._

Naruto sighed as he put away the last folder of paperwork for the day. After closing the door he stood up and stretched, trying to get the kinks out of his muscles. Today had been unusually long. There were quite a few visits from construction contractors, clan heads or representatives, as well as Konoha shinobi stopping by. He felt that it was understandable, however, since he hadn't been available for the last week.

Mikoto's father, Kagami, had passed away. It was rather sudden; before he had left on the mission to destroy the Kannabi Bridge the man appeared perfectly healthy, other than his usual limp. Orihime had claimed that he exhibited no unusual behavior. She was just arriving to work one day as usual and noticed that he wasn't awake like he normally was. When she went to check on him and and he didn't respond, she immediately contacted Mikoto and a medic at the hospital.

Tsunade performed an autopsy and said that it appeared to be heart failure. He had some lingering issues back from when his leg was ruined, and now it just seemed that his age caught up with him. Sadly, the man was only in his early fifties - even if that was considered 'old' for a shinobi... not to mention a retired one.

They held the funeral two days ago, only inviting his closest friends and clan members. Kagami had been removing himself from the public eye ever since his daughter took over as clan head, so it seemed as though he had been preparing everyone for something like this.

Mikoto had been in emotional turmoil the day she found out about her father's death, as Naruto had still been out on his mission and she had no idea when he would get back. According to Orihime, Mikoto had clung to Itachi like a lifeline until Naruto had entered the door. As his wife had pretty much sobbed herself to sleep in his arms, he had to carry her to bed. She had slowly been recovering over the course of the week, only with a bit of a setback during the funeral. By yesterday she had mostly returned to her usual self, if a little more subdued.

Cleaning up his desk, Naruto made sure the windows were closed and left his office, closing the door behind him. Walking downstairs, he entered the foyer of the building, and spotted the middle-aged secretary at the desk.

"Have a good evening, Kimidori-san."

She looked up from whatever she was doing at her desk and offered her boss a small smile. "Try to have a good night, Naruto-sama. Please extend my sympathies to Mikoto-sama."

"I will. Thank you."

Naruto exited the building and headed for home, examining some of the bustle around him. He had purchased a small, newly constructed office-style building out in Konoha's latest addition... the 'first ring'. The suggestion actually came from Hiruzen, asking if Naruto had wanted an new office closer to work since there was a lot more that he had to do - not to mention the one he was using was filling up rather quickly. The first ring was the latest and likely last expansion for Konoha, simply because if it grew any larger the Fire Lord would be required to appoint a governor to supervise the burgeoning population. That would add a whole extra level of political issues, especially where the other shinobi villages were concerned.

Besides that, even now people were starting to forget that Konoha was supposed to be merely a Hidden Village. It was quickly turning into a Not-Quite Hidden City.

A little over a year ago Naruto had suggested that he would just purchase an entire building, under ownership of the Uchiha Clan, that he could move all things relating to the construction and maintenance of Konoha to. Hiruzen agreed with the idea, and began funneling most of the D-Rank maintenance-style missions through Naruto's office as well. Being closer to the construction helped the people that Naruto had to deal with on a regular basis too – they no longer had to travel all the way to the center of Konoha just to speak with him.

Since the building was owned by the Uchiha, part of it also doubled as an extended Military Police building. It gave the patrols out here a home base of sorts, so that they didn't have to travel all the way back to the Uchiha grounds in the village proper. For a while Naruto was concerned that Fugaku would come out there to examine the place, but he had sent Uchiha Sumire instead. Apparently she didn't much care for Fugaku either, and was glad to be out from under his thumb. Naruto knew they'd get along just fine, in that case.

Naruto took to the rooftops the moment he passed through the main gate, trying to get home quickly. He had hired on Orihime to give Mikoto help when she needed it, and he figured having a nanny around for Itachi and any other children they may have someday would be a good idea. The seventeen year old girl was all smiles when he asked, she confirmed that she was expecting to have to look for another job. However she was more than happy to look after Itachi and assist in whatever capacity he or Mikoto needed.

Arriving at home, Naruto entered and called out to Mikoto, who responded that she was in the living room. Moving through the house, he stopped when he looked in the room, only to see his wife staring at what looked like a wrapped up jar on the table in front of the couch.

"Mikoto?"

"Hm?" She looked up briefly and gave him a tight smile, then beckoned him over and patted the spot next to her on the couch.

The blond walked over and sat down, eyeing the jar the entire time. "Is something wrong?"

She shook her head negatively before leaning over and resting it against Naruto's shoulder. "Orochimaru-sama and Tsunade-sama stopped by not long before you got home," she murmured.

"Did they find out something else?"

"No." He felt Mikoto's head shake again, this time against his shoulder, "They said father had a request in his will that he added shortly after we were married. It wasn't on the will when they did the reading, or at least maybe he requested that it not be read in front of everyone. Regardless, this is part of his request."

Mikoto gestured at the jar before grabbing Naruto's hand, intertwining her fingers with his.

"He wanted to offer you his eyes. The will said you don't have to accept, but that he was giving them to you, as he believed whatever quest you are on... having them would benefit you."

Naruto felt as if all the air had been pushed out of his lungs. Kagami had left him the Sharingan? It wasn't something he felt that he really needed, but just the gesture alone, of course he appreciated it. It might help to have a trump card, but if he got it up to the Mangekyou he'd start to lose his eyesight. Since he wasn't born an Uchiha, he wouldn't have a relative to exchange eyes with either. Going blind was not something he would enjoy.

Not to mention Kurama would probably hate him again.

"Naruto?"

"Hm? Oh... sorry. I was lost in thought."

"Apparently. What do you think?"

Naruto sighed, and using his free hand he brushed it back through his spiky hair. "Honestly, while I'm both shocked and grateful, I'm not too sure I want to try."

"Are you sure?" He wasn't sure if he made the right choice, and Mikoto's neutral voice wasn't helping his decision either.

"Well, I know I have been around enough despair in the past to be able to unlock the Mangekyou rather easily, but I don't have a desire to lose my eyesight. Not only that, but I don't know what having bijuu chakra in me would do, since the eyes wouldn't be a normal part of my body. Kurama isn't exactly fond of the Sharingan... I don't want to mess up our relationship by suddenly getting a set."

Mikoto hummed for a moment, then lifted her head and moved over to kiss his cheek. "I'll respect whatever you choose. Though... it would be a shame if you were to lose those blue eyes."

Naruto, while inwardly relieved that Mikoto at least appeared to agree with him, turned his head to stare into the eyes of his wife. "I didn't know you liked them that much."

"I love them. They stand out so much, and when we were first dating whenever you stared at me it would give me the chills."

Grinning slyly, he began to tease her a little, "Oh, so they don't anymore then?"

His wife giggled a bit. "Now? Now they just make me hot when you stare at me."

"I'll have to remember that, then. I have to admit I wasn't a big fan of the Sharingan when I was younger, but they just look downright exotic on you."

The small grin that was on her face began to grow larger, and her Sharingan immediately activated, the three tomoe in each now-red eye spinning in slow circles. He knew that she wasn't placing him in a genjutsu... not anything close, really... but he couldn't stop looking at her.

"You know, if you look at me like that, it's going to make me want to do things."

"Oh? What kind of things?" Mikoto questioned. Naruto was looking at her face, though he could see her hands moving along the zipped up jacket she was wearing.

"Things that used to make you blush when I referenced them, but now you seem to enjoy wholeheartedly," he murmured.

Mikoto let out a moan as she moved from her seat, and leaned forward to place a smoldering kiss on his lips. Naruto was about to deepen it, but she pulled back almost immediately. She shifted off the couch and stood up in front of him, pulling the rest of her zipper down so that the front of the jacket opened. She had her chest wrapped, as she had taken to doing again in the last couple months or so as she got back into a normal training schedule.

Interestingly enough, she hadn't used much wrap today. There was plenty of skin visible, and it didn't take much to get his imagination into gear.

"I need to... get my mind off things. To start, I think that maybe I should take a bath. Would you be a dear and seal up this jar? We'll talk more about it later. Right now I'd like you to help me wash my back."

Naruto reached up and made a grab for her, but Mikoto let out another giggle and dodged him, then made a beeline for the hallway that led to their room. When she realized he was going to actually do as she said and wasn't giving chase, she leaned back around the corner, taking off her jacket completely as she did so.

"Please be quick about it. I'd hate to get started without you, darling. I've been interested in trying out that scene from Jiraiya-sensei's manuscript. You know, the one with the soap suds and conveniently placed towels?"

Naruto never before sealed away anything faster than he did that jar.

* * *

Somewhere in a bar in Rain Country, a white-haired man began cackling to himself for no reason at all.

* * *

_Four months later..._

"Dammit, get down you idiots! Do you want to lose your heads?" Naruto grabbed the shoulders of the two shinobi in front of him, yanking them down to the ground forcefully just as several braces worth of shuriken flew through the air right where they were.

The two shinobi he saved, one from Konoha, the other from Kumo, both stared at him with wide-eyed expressions - a mixture of shock and relief.

"Keep your heads down! We're on the front lines dammit, we don't have the backup manpower for you to lose your heads here! I mean that literally!"

Getting shaky nods from the two, the blond grunted and turned away, swiftly moving down the trench to where their fortified operations center was. He had been leading the push around the right side of the Iwa line, trying to get to their flank before being called back. He wasn't completely sure, but from what he could remember of the stories Kakashi told him, this sounded just like the final battle of the war. The entire zone was a complete stalemate so far - they were surrounded by stone and rock, which made things perfect for the Iwa forces. He had no idea how it went before, but this... this was _hell_.

Not quite the hell he was used to during his reality, but then all war was hell anyway. Damn stubborn Oonoki... why wouldn't the old man just surrender with most of his forces still intact?

Not willing to dwell on the thoughts of what obviously wasn't going to happen at this point, Naruto instead wanted to end the war quickly with as little bloodshed as possible. He briefly contemplated asking Kushina if he could test the seal they had been working on and transferring Kurama's consciousness over to him, but was wary about risking it. So far he had been able to clearly send short thoughts and emotions over to Kurama, but the bijuu had not been able to send him more than vague impressions back to him... or at least nothing coherent. Neither he nor Kushina could pinpoint what the problem was, and neither of them wanted to jeopardize Kurama's safety.

Needless to say, Kurama was more amused about that than anything else.

Naruto had to steady himself against the side of the trench he was in as a stronger technique set the ground moving underneath him. Luckily it didn't last long, and he was able to make good time, stepping over injured and dead bodies as he went. His heart went out to those he passed who were too injured to be saved, as it did during the last war. The few medics they had were doing their best to make the wounded as comfortable (or numb) as possible.

Upon arrival at the command bunker, he took a look around to see who was present. It didn't take long for his eyes to meet those of Hatake Sakumo, who immediately beckoned him over to a table that he was standing around along with a few others.

"Sakumo, glad you could make it." Naruto tossed a resigned grin at the older man, who simply returned the greeting with a wry smile.

"Naruto. How goes things on your end?"

"Tougher than I thought it would be. I've managed to keep my squad alive, but doing that while trying to move forward has proven to be more difficult than I thought it would be. This terrain works too much to Iwa's advantage."

"Indeed it does. Listen, we have a-"

Sakumo was cut off as a loud explosion went off right above their heads. The ground - even the very air - shook from the sound, and pieces of dirt fell from the ceiling. A few shinobi that knew earth techniques who were in the room immediately set about reinforcing various areas of the walls and ceiling that looked weak.

"As I was saying," began Sakumo again, a little louder this time, "we have a plan to open them up a bit and make a bit of headway instead of being stuck in the current stalemate. This is the only path to the capital through the mountains, so we have no choice but to go this way. They obviously know it too, with how they're defending."

Naruto nodded, looking around the room at the others who had started listening in. His eyes met Minato's for a few brief seconds before glancing at Kakashi, Nara Shikaku, and Akimichi Chouza. All of them appeared weary, but their eyes were bright and focused. They knew what they had to do. He offered a nod to them, which they all returned, though Naruto's eyes lingered a little longer on Kakashi than they did for any of the others. The boy was too young to be here on the front lines, but the jonin had been just short of throwing a tantrum to get here. Thankfully his own students, as well as Obito and Rin, weren't as quick to want to jump into the fray, and instead were given assignments to guard the supply caravans.

His thoughts were cut off as Sakumo resumed speaking after the brief pause. "Ei has a squad ready to punch through if we can at least distract them enough. Minato tells me one of your Shadow Clones came up to him, explaining that you might have an idea."

"Several, actually."

Sakumo made a gesture at the table. "Go for it. At this point I think we're open for anything."

Nodding again, Naruto looked over the table at the roughly drawn battlefield. The first thing he did was look for where he was trying to work around one of the flanks and expanded it a bit to show how far his team had made it. They probably could have gotten further but Iwa likely figured out what they were trying to do, as in the last hour they hadn't really made any forward progress. Naruto had his hands full just trying to help keep his team alive.

Glancing over the rest of the map, he started pointing at various places of the display and looking at people in the room, issuing them orders. Many of the jonin that he didn't know well enough simply got orders to hold various places along the front line, performing diversionary tactics and make it look like they weren't pushing too hard.

The majority of the forces, including the jonin that he knew, were sent to the southern end to do a large push from there, drawing Iwa's attention. The main thing was keeping Iwa focused on them more than any other reason. Pulling it off would be difficult, because they had to make it look like a real push without having Iwa call their bluff. Meanwhile, Naruto was going to head back up to the northern end with Minato, and open up a hole for Ei and his squad.

After he was done and Sakumo agreed with the plan, albeit with a few minor adjustments, all the jonin left to go carry out their orders. Sakumo excused himself as well so that he could go inform Ei of what the plan was. Once they were alone, Naruto turned to Minato and offered him a grin.

"So... are you ready to introduce yourself as the Yellow Flash on a large scale?"

"I guess. I've never used it to this degree before. Are you sure this is what I did before?"

"Positive." Naruto chuckled. "It's one of the things that cemented your position as Yondaime Hokage and made you a legend. But we didn't have help from Kumo before either, so I don't know how this is going to end up. You won't need to do as much this time – just be a distraction. I don't know what it was like before, but we're not actively trying to take lives here. Just keep them busy long enough for Cloud to make it through."

Minato took a deep breath and did some stretches, trying to loosen himself up. It was true that he had never used the Hiraishin on such a large scale before. While Naruto had no idea how much the technique had been used in the alternate past, he was aware of hearing that it had almost single-handedly ended the war.

When Minato was prepared, they both returned together to the northern edge of the line that their forces were holding. Naruto made a couple dozen shadow clones and each of them grabbed a handful of the Hiraishin kunai. As they were assigning positions to other members of the task force, Ei walked up with his own team.

"Naruto. Minato. Are we ready?"

Minato simply looked to Naruto, who nodded. "Yes. Minato is going to use the Hiraishin to make you a path through to their support lines, which you should be able to cut off before continuing to the capital. I'll use my forces to follow behind you so we can completely encircle them, and hopefully force a battlefield surrender without too much more bloodshed."

Ei frowned with slight distaste, obviously not a fan of stopping bloodshed, at least from what Naruto knew of the man from his time. However there was no argument, and he simply ordered the rest of his team to follow him once Minato started. Ei was a firm believer in the way of the warrior, that you shouldn't stop until your enemy was beaten soundly. Not to say Ei was a bad man, because he wasn't... he just followed a different moral compass.

Scant minutes later, Naruto was ordering his clones to the front lines and pulling the other shinobi back. There was a brief lull in combat before hundreds of tri-pronged kunai were hurled at incredible velocity towards the enemy lines. Many of the Iwa shinobi simply knocked away the kunai, not aware what they would lead to. Several even caught or picked one up, curious about the design.

For many of them, it was the last thing they did as a shinobi. There was a quick flash of yellow that moved past Naruto, and started jumping around from place to place on the battlefield. It was only his own use of the technique and practice moving fast with Kurama's chakra that allowed him to follow Minato's path of pure death. He knew Minato would have liked to simply disable as many of the enemy as he could rather than killing them, but they needed to show they were serious. Hopefully a few deaths now meant a lot more people would be alive later.

As soon as the yells and screams reached their ears, Ei took his squad and moved forward swiftly, through the opening Minato had made. Naruto and his clones followed behind picking up the tri-prong kunai and throwing them further once again, continuing the path. Behind him followed the rest of his platoon, securing the areas that Minato had just cleared.

Ei's team finally pulled out of sight, and once most of the Iwa shinobi in the area were either dead, injured, or surrendering, Minato finally stopped using the Hiraishin only to nearly fall over, exhausted. As Naruto moved over to help him, the other blond looked at him, his tired expression morphing into one of curiosity followed almost immediately by panic.

"Naruto! Watch out!" Minato shouted as he desperately tried to climb to his feet.

At first he thought it was just an Iwa shinobi that had somehow managed to hide from him. Palming a kunai and preparing to move in a burst of speed, he had only managed to turn around halfway before catching a glimpse of something black and red. He immediately shifted into an offensive stance when he fully caught sight of Tobi, only to see the space around the man's visible _left _eye start to swirl. Not even thinking about any potential consequences, he pulled on some of Kurama's chakra that was still inside him and attempted to take out the man by any means necessary.

Unfortunately he wasn't able to prepare enough, and Tobi was already starting to pull Naruto out of existence. The blond felt an odd twisting sensation as the Space-Time Migration technique locked onto him, and the last thing he heard other than a slight _whoosh _noise was Minato's voice shouting his name.

* * *

Naruto grunted as he landed... well... wherever _here _was. There was no sky, or ceiling as far as he could tell... everything above him and as far as he could see on the horizon was completely black. As a sharp contrast, he was standing on a bright, white rectangular block. It was actually one of many, many more blocks than he could ever hope to count, stretched out as far as he could see.

Slowly climbing to his feet as he tried to clear the disorientation from his mind, the blond had no idea where he was. It was probably something of Tobi's creation, a place where he could move things and reclaim them whenever he wished. That meant he'd have to find a way to break out of here, if it was even possible. As far as he could tell the only way in or out was through the use of the Mangekyou Sharingan... which no one had right now. At least, not that he was aware of.

He didn't know if Tobi had a legitimate Mangekyou or not, as he had never seen it, even during the war. He never fought the 'Edo Tensei' Madara either, but the two seemed so similar he believed that Tobi was simply a shade of the original Madara, a resurrected version of the legendary Uchiha that was incomplete in some way. Sadly they hadn't gotten to see behind the mask to tell the man's true identity, but often times he knew more than anyone was comfortable with, especially when it concerned himself and Kakashi.

Then other times he acted as if the two of them were barely worth his notice and was merely humoring them with a fight of some kind, but was otherwise simply content to let his 'minions' do the work.

"So, you're the upstart that has caused me to have to adjust my plans."

Tensing for a moment, Naruto realized that he still had his kunai in his hands and full access to his chakra. Unfortunately this place was completely foreign to him, he had no idea what Tobi was capable of. Perhaps it would be best to keep a level head for the time being and see how much information he could get out of him.

Turning around, he eyed the cloaked man standing on another pillar across from where he was. Unlike the Tobi from Naruto's time, though... this one had an eye hole on the left side of the mask, showing only a left eye. His hair, while still spiky, was much longer - coming down to below the shoulders, almost to mid-back. On top of that, this mask was painted red and had no spiral, though the top quarter of it was white.

"Hello, Tobi. Long time no see. Well, for me, at least."

The man across from him made no motion to indicate he was surprised in any way. However, Naruto was plenty surprised when he got his reply.

"Tobi? I have no idea who that is. But I can assure you I am not him. Judging by your comment we must have some similarities. How is he like me?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "He dresses exactly like you, except his mask is orange and only his right eye is visible."

The masked man paused for a moment, obviously thinking over what he had been told. "Interesting. My thoughts immediately lead me to only one possible conclusion, though I know it is false. Therefore you know something I don't. That in turn lends credence to my opinion that you simply aren't from _here_, as you have managed to foil many of my plans before I've even managed to do more than get them started. Or perhaps it merely is an amazing coincidence?"

The blond didn't want to give anything away, and refused to look at the man's eye, because he knew quite a lot about what the Sharingan was capable of.

"Your silence speaks for you more than any words you could possibly say. Though I admit I was hoping you'd be a little more cooperative. My aim is world peace, after all."

"It's a false peace!" Naruto snarled, momentarily forgetting himself and looking at the man's mask. "It places you in charge of people's lives, causing them to lose their free will! That's not life at all."

Tobi appeared to slouch slightly, and Naruto could hear the man sigh as he shook his head. In yet another surprise move, he grabbed the bottom of the mask and slowly lifted it up, pulling it up and over his head to reveal a... rather ordinary looking face. While he didn't immediately know who the man was, he was able to recognize that the man's facial structure was definitely Uchiha. The only other stand-out feature was that his right eye was closed for some reason.

"Do you recognize who I am?"

The blond remained silent for a moment, silently pondering the question in his mind. While it wasn't anyone he recognized, he had heard enough stories about a certain Uchiha, both from his time and current reality, that he knew his guess was most likely the correct one.

"Uchiha Madara."

If the man across from him was at all pleased with Naruto's deduction, he didn't show it. All he offered was a casual nod of his head.

"What's wrong with your right eye?" The question left Naruto's mouth before he could stop it, but about all that was available to him at the moment was to pump Madara for as much information as the man was willing to share.

"Hm. I guess you could say... I'm letting someone borrow it. The Sharingan is a very useful tool, as I'm sure you're very well aware. And while it is more draining than the Sharingan, the Rinnegan also has its uses..."

Naruto's bright blue eyes squinted in focus as he absorbed the words that Madara spoke. He knew Tobi from his time had access to the Rinnegan, but to know that it was currently available to the man in front of him had shivers running down his back. The worst part about all this was that Madara was pretty much an unknown quantity, at least assuming the Tobi from his time was a different person. He'd never know for sure, but considering how young this Madara had looked... he'd never be able to know for sure as he doubted the Uchiha across from him would be willing to clarify.

"Now I just need to figure out what to do with you. You know too much somehow, so it is a risk for me to leave you alone. Even if you married into the Uchiha clan, you are not one, but I know you were an Uzumaki so you would still be of some use to me. However you do not have their trademark red hair, therefore I wonder just how much of an Uzumaki you are. I would subvert you to my will, but I have a feeling it would take much more effort than it would be worth in the long run, not to mention you likely know many more secrets about these eyes than I am comfortable with. Since you knew not to look at my face when we first arrived, I am led to believe that you are very capable, and had I not caught you by surprise I would have had a rather intense fight on my hands."

"What's to stop me from killing you now?" Naruto questioned, almost growling.

"Oh, you're more than welcome to try. However the moment you show any signs of aggression I am more than willing to depart and simply leave you here. I admit I have not left anyone here for a large amount of time, so I am unaware of how time passes in this place. Maybe you will be my first experiment."

Naruto had to forcefully restrain himself from wanting to jump across to the next pillar and beating the smug tone out of Madara. If he had to be honest with himself, he was stuck. The only one who could get him out of here was Madara, at least that he knew of. Having the Mangekyou was likely a requirement, and there was no active Mangekyou in the clan that he was aware of.

"I see you have calmed down. You're more than welcome to take a look around this place, though in all my times here I've never found it for better than anything but storage. For now though, since you're stuck here..." Madara's voice trailed off and he placed the mask back over his face, "I have some new planning to do."

Before Naruto could utter a word, the world around the man's left eye began to twist and warp, and barely a second later he had disappeared.

Frowning, the blond took another look around, as if he expected Madara to suddenly attack him. When no attack came, however, he resigned himself to waiting and looking around. Maybe if he was lucky he'd find a way out of this place.

Maybe.

* * *

_One week later..._

Mikoto squinted as she looked up into the sky, trying to gauge the time of day. She had agreed to meet Kushina here for some light sparring to keep her mind off... things.

Minato had returned roughly four days ago, bringing with him both good news and bad. The good news was that the war had officially been ended, and they didn't have to wipe out Iwa's entire army to do so. The bad news, however... it took a moment for Minato to even work up the courage to say it. Mikoto could easily see how tense he was, and the fact that he was looking at her only made a cold feeling of dread settle in her gut.

**"**Naruto... he's not dead as far as we know... but he's missing. I'm sorry, Mikoto."

Part of her dread had swiftly changed to confusion, as she had no idea how someone like Naruto could simply go missing. But her question died on her lips when Minato simply shook his head, the sorrow evident on his features.

**"**I don't know how to explain it. One moment he was right there in front of me after successfully helping me with the Hiraishin, and the next moment there was someone behind wearing a black cloak and a mask I didn't recognize. I warned him to watch out, then there was a ripple in the air... and next I knew both Naruto and the masked man were gone. I couldn't sense him anywhere."

The dread returned full force. Naruto had explained to her the techniques that he knew of from the 'Tobi' character in his future, and what happened matched up completely. No one else had the Mangekyou currently, so none would be able to potentially enter the area where Naruto was likely being held prisoner. It was only a small comfort that her husband was likely still alive, but there was no telling when she'd see him again. Both Minato and Kushina had tried their best to comfort her over the past several days, though it was clear that the other two were fighting their own feelings about the loss of Naruto. The three of them plus Hiruzen and Hakumo had done their best to keep Naruto's disappearance on the down-low, but it was only a matter of time before people started asking questions.

The Uchiha clan had already begun to pester her. After all, even if he was on assignment, as the second person in line to take over the clan should something happen to her, they had a right to know his whereabouts and send backup if needed.

**"**Watch out!"

The noise of metal hitting metal brought Mikoto out of her thoughts, and she quickly fell into a defensive posture as she looked around.

**"**Awake now?"

Mikoto's head finally settled on her red-haired friend who had a kunai on the ground near her feet as well as one in each hand, glaring at someone...

Her eyes quickly focused on the man standing at what he probably considered a safe distance. He was completely draped in a black cloak, and had shaggy black hair that looked to be longer than her own. The most obvious feature about him was his blood-red mask that was white on top with one eye-hole on the left side of it.

**"**Who are you? How did you get here?" She heard Kushina shout towards the cloaked man.

**"**Oh, no one important. I thought it would be nice of me to bring back someone I needed to borrow at the end of the war."

Mikoto quickly squelched the feeling of hope that began to rise up in her. To get Naruto back would be... amazing... but there was no telling what kind of condition he was in. Before she or Kushina could say or ask anything further, there was a rippling sensation in the air right in front of the masked man... just like Minato had described.

To her amazement, Naruto seemed to appear right there, as if from nothingness. Her husband didn't really appear to be any worse for wear, other than a few dirty spots on his clothes that he likely picked up during the battles. However he was already starting to tumble forward and shield his face as he squinted. Wherever he was being held must have been dark.

She made to move forward to assist him, as he was obviously rather disoriented. Mikoto heard Kushina moving right next to her, but the were both stopped short by the voice of the masked man before they'd made it more than halfway there.

**"**Unfortunately for you, I didn't say what kind of condition I would leave him in."

Mikoto felt her own heart stop as she watched in horror as a blade pierced through Naruto from the back of his chest, only to stick out from the front, dripping blood. Right through where his heart was. Her eyes quickly traveled from the sword sticking out of his chest to his face, only to see his bright blue eyes looking at her in confusion and pain. It felt like an eternity passed in that one moment before Naruto's body started to pitch forward and their eyes broke contact.

The Uchiha Matriarch stood there, helpless, as her husband fell to his knees as the masked man released the sword, then tilted and fell to his side. Her mind tried to process a million thoughts in those brief seconds as she watched her husband be killed right in front of her. Her mind barely registered as Kushina began to scream next to her, running forward again and calling out the name of her brother now... son in another time. She wanted to do the same herself, to run over and believe he wasn't dead, and merely injured. However for some reason she couldn't tear her eyes away from the man wearing the mask, who seemed to be staring impassively at the blond on the ground in front of him, as if impassively watching the death of a lower life form.

It wasn't until she heard what the man said, though, that she finally snapped free from her stupor. **"**Well, the blade certainly serves its purpose, but I still prefer a battle fan."

Perhaps it was the seemingly nonchalant way that he spoke, or the smugness that just seemed to be dripping from his entire being. However she knew that she would never - ever - allow anyone to so casually disregard her husband and all he stood for. In his past, in their present, and in the future.

Something inside her snapped, and rage unlike anything Mikoto had ever felt before let something out of her that she wasn't even aware she had been holding back. Time itself seemed to stop, and other than the fact that the masked man had shifted his gaze to look at her now, she was unaware of anything else. For that man to so casually disregard everything she had fought for, everything she wanted, everything she loved...

There was immense pressure behind her eyes, and a tickling sensation began trailing down her cheeks, much like tears that weren't wiped away. A word began to repeat over and over again in her mind, and before Mikoto was fully able to comprehend what exactly it was, she registered her own voice shouting that word for everyone to hear.

**"**Susano'o!"

* * *

A/N: Apologies for the delay.

Full explanations for why, as well as the review responses are posted on my blog, for those who care.

paradoxjast . blogspot . com


	17. Chapter 16

_Previously..._

_Something inside her snapped, and rage unlike anything Mikoto had ever felt before let something out of her that she wasn't even aware she had been holding back. Time itself seemed to stop, and other than the fact that the masked man had shifted his gaze to look at her now, she was unaware of anything else. For that man to so casually disregard everything she had fought for, everything she wanted, everything she loved..._

_There was immense pressure behind her eyes, and a tickling sensation began trailing down her cheeks, much like tears that weren't wiped away. A word began to repeat over and over again in her mind, and before Mikoto was fully able to comprehend what exactly it was, she registered her own voice shouting that word for everyone to hear._

_"Susano'o!"_

* * *

Chapter 16

Kushina stopped charging forward as she saw a huge, purple... _thing_ appear around her best friend. She wasn't sure what it was, but the chakra which formed the monstrosity appeared to completely encircle Mikoto and formed some sort of skeleton - the likes of which was nothing she had ever seen before.

Mikoto had shouted out the word Susano'o, apparently the name of this new technique. Strangely, Kushina had never seen her best friend perform it before now, though she was aware of rumors that the Sharingan could let the Uchiha do some strange things. Whatever it was, the chakra pressure from her best friend was steadily increasing... but it felt dark and tainted. The redhead was somewhat adept at sensing chakra signatures, and Mikoto's was doing yet another thing she had never felt before now.

Any futher thoughts on the subject were cut short as the purple skeleton moved, swinging a strange-looking sword in a wide downward arc. It didn't impact the ground, but it did force the masked man to take several quick hops backwards so that he wouldn't be hit.

"Kushina!"

Startled, it took the redhead a moment to realize that Mikoto was calling her name.

"Y-Yeah, Mikoto-nee?"

"Get... get N-Naruto out of here. Please."

Kushina quickly darted forward, trying to pretend that she didn't hear Mikoto's voice break when she said Naruto's name. Coming to an abrupt halt at the blond's prone form, she tried to hold back her grief at the sight until he was moved out of the way from whatever it was that his wife wanted to do. Carefully shifting him so as to not potentially make his seemingly lethal injury worse, she moved her hands and arms under his shoulder blades and knees. Boosting her strength and speed with chakra reinforcement, the redhead grunted for a moment as she adjusted to his extra weight while trying not to stare at the sword in his chest, then quickly moved over to the far side of the clearing.

She kept an eye on the masked man, though to both her relief and worry he appeared to be more interested in what Mikoto was doing. Glancing at her friend once again, she noticed that her Susano'o was no longer a skeleton, but appeared to be fully fleshed out, with a face that looked to have a cruel grimace on it. The sword it was holding was now somehow alight with what looked to be fire... but it was black and didn't give off any light; yet something else she had never seen before.

Mikoto let out a yell and moved forward, but Kushina forced herself to stop watching for a moment as she set Naruto carefully back down on the ground. The sword was still in him, unfortunately she was afraid to move it as it might cause more damage or cause him to start bleeding in earnest. Clumsily pressing her shaking fingers against the side of his throat, she finally lost the battle with her tears as she searched in vain for a heartbeat – as if the sword sticking out from his chest didn't send enough of a message.

"_Kurama! Can you think of or do anything?"_

There was a brief rumbling in the back of her mind before the deep voice of the Nine Tails became clear. _"Lift up his shirt and place your hand against the seal on his stomach. If his chakra network is at all still active, I may be able to sustain him with chakra alone for a little while until a medic gets here."_

The redhead didn't need to be told twice, as she immediately unzipped his bloodstained jonin vest, then quickly lifted up the mesh underlay while trying to ignore the quickly crusting blood that had run down his chest towards his abdomen. Placing her hand directly over his navel, she pumped as much of both her own and Kurama's chakra into the seal as she could.

At first, there was a spark of hope as the hidden seal on Naruto's stomach immediately appeared; the dark spiral was a sharp contrast to his quickly paling skin. A loud yell from Mikoto and a large explosion almost sent both her and Naruto flying, but some quick chakra adjustments kept her stuck to the ground while holding onto and protecting what she could of her brother's body.

She wasn't able to tell what Kurama was doing, but as the seconds turned into a minute, and then two – despair once more began to set in. She had tried focusing on what Mikoto and the masked man were talking and yelling to each other about over the explosions, but her mind seemed to be unable to focus on any one task.

It was when the Nine Tails spoke again, however, that the world around her seemed to stop existing as reality was brought to a fine point, directly in front of her.

_"I'm... sorry Kushina, there's nothing I can do." _Kurama's deep voice rumbled in her mind._ "Believe me, I wish I could."_

That pronouncement was followed by a deep sigh. _"I have only ever wished for three things in my long life. That the old man didn't have to die, that I had my freedom from being used as a tool for many years... and now this__."_  
_  
_Kushina wanted to wail, to scream and yell, to let the world know about her loss. But for the moment, all she could feel was numb. Even though he was dead and still had the sword stuck through the middle of his torso, she removed her hand from his abdomen, and instead cradled his head in her lap as if it were a precious and delicate object.

Another loud commotion brought her halfhearted attention back to the fight between her best friend and her brother's killer, but a voice she had never heard before spoke up behind her before she could figure out what was going on.

"What happened here?"

* * *

Naruto blinked as his eyes opened... or at least he thought he blinked. It was hard to tell, as it was completely black around him, and there wasn't any light as far as he could tell.

Looking down, he released that he could see himself, as if he was a light source – though he didn't appear to give off any ambient light as he couldn't see anything else around him. Unlike being stuck in 'Madara's World', as he had come to call it, there were no large pillars of white all around him either.

It was a total void. There was nothing but darkness for as far as he could see, not to mention for all intents and purposes the surface he was standing on was invisible as well. Trying to assess his situation, he replayed his most recent memories in his mind.

He was hit with a sharp pain in his head and crumpled to his knees as what he believed to be the last moments of his life replayed with almost painful clarity. One moment, he was exhausted and tired but unable to sleep for some reason in 'Madara's World'. Though there was no way to tell how much time had passed in that place, it felt like an eternity.

It was as if something was giving him the energy to stay awake, while at the same time making sleep impossible as a result. It was maddening, and if he had been stuck in there any longer he might have truly gone mad before long. That was one of the reasons why when he felt the sudden twist of his reality being changed, he was at first excited to meet that change, regardless of where it would put him.

As his vision had stabilized in the new area, a blue sky was the first thing he saw, and his heart leaped at the sight. Then he noticed how much brighter it all was, and moved to shield his eyes from the sunlight that he hadn't seen in what felt like forever.

His squinting eyes rested on Mikoto for barely a second before he heard Madara's voice behind him. The blond couldn't remember what the man said exactly, as there was a sharp pain in the middle of his chest. He watched as his wife's face morphed from amazement, to fear, then to panic, and finally what appeared to be grief mixed with anger in what was likely a span of a couple seconds.

At first it confused him, but then the pain from his chest got worse, and he looked down only to see a sword sticking out of it. Darkness quickly started seeping up from the corners of his vision, and before he knew it he could no longer find the strength to remain standing.

Naruto's eyes had closed completely at some point, though his mind was fuzzy on exactly when. In actuality, it felt like he simply closed his eyes for a brief moment before he opened them again, to find himself where he was now – standing up once more.

The moment he wondered what to do now, a faint sound resembling a laugh came from behind him. Quickly turning around, he examined the area, only to see what appeared to be a faint light off in the distance. It was impossible to tell just how far away it was, but looking around one more time made him realize that there really wasn't anything else he could see.

Steeling himself as he let out a sigh, the blond took a step forward, followed by another, slowly making his way towards the light. He was unsure as to if there was an end anywhere to the apparently nonexistent surface he was walking on, but as Naruto continued his travels towards the light, his mind began wandering towards the 'what if's'.

Such as: What if this is what people referred to when they were dying or dead as 'walking towards the light'?

He began to ponder different scenarios as he got closer, only for his thoughts to lean more towards curiosity as the one light he originally saw became two, and then several more after that. By the time he got close enough to identify the various lights, however, he just knew his eyes had to be playing tricks on him.

The scene was surprisingly familiar, in an eerie sort of way. There were plenty of little things that just made the entire thing appear wrong, as though someone had changed a few minor details here and there just to try to mess him up.

The worst part about it all was the two people sitting at the table in front of him, both of them giving him small, reserved smiles while obviously waiting for him to talk first. After staring at them for a few seconds, he took a deep breath and realized that he would have to be the one to make the first move.

"Minato? Kushina? What are you two doing here?"

* * *

Mikoto screamed in frustration as her Amaterasu-coated sword once again went right through the masked man's body without him having to dodge at all. It was as if she was just swinging through air.

"Well... for being the current leader of the clan, I must admit I was expecting more than this."

She knew deep down he was just goading her on. At this point, she just didn't care. There was only one objective she had right now, and that was to see the man in front of her die. Even if she died along the way, he was going down.

Her thoughts briefly turned to Itachi, and her friends. She knew that Kushina and Minato would raise Itachi well, and they would certainly get help from the clan. But the monster in front of her had to die, because if he didn't, no one would be safe. Naruto's passion to see this man dead to save everyone else had been cemented in her long ago. He never directly asked her to help him, but he was so passionate about it – especially after hearing the horror stories of his time – that she couldn't help but get swept up in it as well.

She didn't want to die – no one did, at least no one that she knew of. Mikoto wasn't afraid of death, but that wasn't to say she was actively seeking it, either. Judging by the hard time she was having so far, however, it was unlikely she'd make it through this in one piece.

The Uchiha Matriarch was a realist, it was one of the things that Naruto always claimed to love about her. Of course, thoughts of her recently deceased husband re-ignited her rage, and she felt another burst of power surge through her system.

"That's better. Come now, let's dance a little."

The raven-haired woman tried to lay a multi-layered genjutsu on the area, though against her opponent she had no idea if it would work. When she sent another bolt of black fire at him and he dodged this time she guessed it might have been working a little, as he made an effort to move this time instead of letting it go right through him.

Any further considerations were cut short as he pulled a battle fan out of nowhere and seemed to glide through the air, taking a swing at her. She brought the sword of her Susano'o around to deflect the blow, but much to her surprise she was pushed back instead of stopping his momentum. He chuckled as he glided down to the ground.

"Do you know who I am, woman?"

Mikoto glared at the man as she panted slightly. Her cheeks were both itching, so she wiped at them, only to see the back of her hand come away bloody. "I think it's fairly obvious who you are, bastard."

To her displeasure, he simply chuckled again and shook his head, then reached up and pulled off the mask, tossing it to the ground.

"Well, since I'm guessing the dead blond told everyone who I am at this point, I no longer need to hide my face. It's much earlier than I had planned, but I guess I might as well start my conquests today by killing you and sending the Uchiha clan into disarray."

Mikoto continued to glare at Madara. "Konoha is much stronger than just the Uchiha."

He leaped forward again, surprising her by getting inside her guard and smashing his fan against Susano'o chest. Mikoto yelped in pain as it felt like a blow against her own chest, even if it was probably blunted. Her technique flickered for a moment as she was sent crashing into a nearby tree.

"You give that village too much credit. It's nothing but a shadow of its once brief, great existence. Hashirama began to dilute it's power as he tried to elevate the status of every other village out there."

Madara slowly stalked forward as Mikoto gradually climbed back to her feet, Susano'o quickly solidifying around her once more.

"Perhaps I will give you one chance. Impress me enough and I'll allow you to join my side on the quest for permanent peace."

Mikoto wasn't sure what he was expecting, but judging by the look on Madara's face when she did it, he didn't believe she would burst out laughing. Even if her ribs were already hurting, it was worth it just for that sight alone.

"I wouldn't follow you in a million years," she chuckled. "Your peace is meaningless because no one will have free will."

She wasn't entirely sure, but it sounded for a moment like Madara actually growled. She wasn't able to bask in the moment for long, however, as he came charging at her once again.

* * *

The two sitting at the table in front of Naruto glanced at each other for a moment, seemingly sharing a conversation in their minds before one of them chuckled and slowly rose from the table.

"Well, I can't say I recall any other child calling their parents by their name in such a manner, but if it's what you're comfortable with... I guess I can let it slide for now."

The redhead stopped a couple short paces away from Naruto, giving him a slight smile as her head tilted a little to the side. The way she was standing and looking at him expectantly, combined with the clothing she was wearing... the Kushina in his time hadn't worn anything like that yet.

"M-Mom?"

She nodded slowly before opening her arms, and in barely more than a second he had moved forward to embrace her tightly. As much as he tried to stop them, he could feel the tears working their way into the corners of his eyes. A rather loud sniff from him caused his mother to chuckle as she stepped back from him.

"Are you really going to cry? It's not like it's been that long since you saw me, ya know?"

Naruto's eyes went wide before they quickly narrowed in confusion. "Wait, aren't you... if you're my mother, then..."

Catching him by surprise, this time it was Minato who answered him. "What your mother means, Naruto, is that we're your parents from your original timeline."

Naruto looked back and forth between his parents, noticing that they did look slightly older than he remembered them from where he was from. It answered some questions, but started a whole lot more too.

"How?"

Minato and Kushina looked at each other again before shrugging. "We aren't sure either," his mother answered. "We can't remember anything before arriving right here. Strangely, we didn't really feel like it had been all that long since we saw each other, and it feels like I just saw you moments ago trying to take control of the Kyuubi."

Naruto stared at his mother curiously as she gestured to an empty chair at the table as she moved back towards her own. Without a word he moved over and sat down, only to look back and forth between his parents curiously for another moment. His eyes briefly passed over other areas of the 'room' they were in, taking in as many details as he could. There were three walls, a floor, and even a ceiling and a window that showed what he recognized as Konoha on a sunny day. All that was missing was the wall from where he entered.

The room itself was literally a carbon copy of Minato's (the younger one) current apartment, minus a few little changes here and there.

"So, uhm," Naruto scratched at his cheek for a moment, trying to figure out what to ask, "Are you two aware of how I got here?"

The mood at the table immediately adopted a rather somber tone, both of his parents nodding while his father looked distinctly unhappy.

"You were killed, as best we can tell," his father explained. "I don't know how, but we were given a sort of strange third-person's view about most of the major events in your life up until this moment."

Kushina nodded as her husband spoke, though in contrast to him, she looked to be having a hard time keeping a straight face. Naruto noticed, and when he simply raised an eyebrow, she couldn't help but grin.

"Mikoto-nee, Naruto? Really?"

Even though they had been married for a while, Naruto felt himself rubbing at the back of his head as a blush started creeping up his face. "Hey now, it just sort of happened! I honestly wasn't trying-"

He stopped talking as Kushina failed to keep a hold on her giggles. Naruto's abashed face quickly transformed into a mild scowl, while Minato simply looked on with a small, amused smile.

"I think that she's very happy for the both of you, though she doesn't know quite how to express that." Kushina hummed and nodded happily as Minato continued, "While I have to admit thinking of it as, well... odd – the Mikoto I knew and was on a genin team with did end up in a marriage with Fugaku. The Mikoto you and our alternate selves know is definitely much, much happier."

"Really?" Naruto asked, looking happy again.

Both of his parents nodded with smiles on their faces, but it was Kushina who answered him. "Thank you for saving my best friend, Naruto. My Mikoto only had flashes of happiness, and that was mostly when it was just her and Itachi. It was wonderful to see that I didn't lose my friend this time."

He wasn't sure what to say, but instead settled for returning the smile. In fact, he really wasn't sure what more to talk about at all just yet. His death had been so sudden and he was still trying to piece it all together. When something fluttered by the window, however, his eyes were immediately drawn to it, looking outside. It didn't take long for his attention to shift from the window over to the door next to it. Getting curious he looked around the room again, noticing that other than the wall that was absent, so were two more doors that he knew led to the bedroom and a storage closet.

"What is it?"

Naruto's head turned back to look at Minato, who had asked the question. At first he just shrugged, but when his father's penetrating stare didn't let up, he figured that he should probably explain.

"I was just wondering why there is a window and a door on that wall, but two other doors from this room are missing. Not to mention the entire wall from where I entered."

Once again his parents shared a look between them, and much like last time, Kushina answered, "You don't want to go through that door, Naruto."

"What? Why?"

"I... I..." Kushina's face went through a collection of expressions as her mouth opened and closed a few times, but no words came out.

"What I think your mother is trying to say and failing at," Minato managed to ignore the redhead as she sent him a glare, "Is that we both know, and yet don't know what is behind the door. It has a strong sense of familiarity, yet at the same time I don't really know what's beyond there. All I do know is that when I woke up here, I had a strong urge to keep you from entering."

"He's right, Naruto." As the young man turned back to look at his mother, she only offered him a sad smile. "We discussed this briefly, but as far as we can tell we're here to stop you from going any further just yet. The only thing we don't know is why."

* * *

Kushina stared with wide eyes at the young man standing next to her. He was rather gaunt looking, so she had a hard time guessing his age, but would place it to be somewhere in his late twenties to early thirties. Other than that there were two other things that really stood out to her.

First was that he had red hair that came down to his shoulders.

Secondly was his eyes. They were like nothing she had ever seen before, yet at the same time they matched up with the exact same rumors she had heard of passed down from her ancestors. Rumors that Mikoto and Naruto had surprisingly decided to confirm were correct – but neither of them really explained anything more beyond confirmation of existence before the subject was dropped or changed. She didn't really remember, and now wasn't the time for introspection.

"Wha – Who are you?"

The new arrival stared at her for barely a moment before his unique eyes shifted from her to the body in front of her. "I was one of Jiraiya-sensei's first students, though I understand he hadn't told anyone of us other than his own teammates. He got me to come here by telling me a rather fantastic story, including some facts that he felt I had to see to truly believe."

If he was going to say anything more, it was cut off by yet another arrival. "Kushina!"

Hearing Minato's voice, she tensed, turning her tear-stained face to look at her boyfriend. At first he was looking worried, but as he ran closer she could see it quickly morph from disbelief to shock as he got closer. Minato completely ignored the other redhead, so she could only guess that he already knew. It wasn't long before his gaze shifted from her to Naruto.

"What happened?" he asked. It looked like he was doing everything he could to reign in all the emotions he was feeling, but it was quickly failing.

"Mad... Madara." She couldn't keep the slight hiccup out of her voice as she came close to bursting into tears again, one of her hands gripping tightly onto Naruto's vest.

All it took was that one name for Minato's eyes to snap quickly into focus as his anger surged to the forefront. Kushina watched as his hands rapidly clenched and released, while at the same time his lips morphed into a snarl that she had never seen him have before. With a look over his shoulder to where Mikoto and Madara were still fighting, he murmured that he'd be back before disappearing in a flash of yellow.

A throat clearing brought Kushina's head back around to the front, only to stare at the other redhead once again. Instead of looking up at him as before, however, he had since crouched down and had a hand resting on Naruto's chest.

"As I was saying before, Jiraiya-sensei mentioned that I might want to come here to meet some people that I thought I no longer had." His gaze shifted from Naruto's form to her face. "Judging from the color of your hair, as well as what Jiraiya-sensei has told me, you must be Uzumaki Kushina."

Kushina simply blinked, then slowly nodded. The newcomer returned the gesture, before looking back down and asking another question. "Who is this?"

"My brother. Naruto."

The other man's lips pressed into a fine line as he stared at the sword still sticking out of Naruto's chest. "Can you lift up his torso? We need to get this sword out of him."

Kushina simply stared at the other man, blinking owlishly before her hands clenched against Naruto's vest once again, unconsciously pulling his body closer in a possessive gesture. The man must have noticed this, as he sighed a little before looking her in the eyes.

"I came here in search of family. My name is Uzumaki Nagato."

Kushina simply blinked at him, again. She looked down at Naruto again, briefly, before shifting back up to stare at Nagato once more.

As if knowing Kushina wasn't all together at the moment, the other redhead offered her a somewhat small, reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, I'm a medic."

* * *

Mikoto groaned as she struggled to pick herself back up. Her Susano'o technique was starting to flicker and fade around it's extremities, not to mention it had switched back to a skeletal figure. While she still felt as though she had the power to handle it, she wasn't sure if her body could take much more.

As she tried to climb back up to her feet, her right knee gave out on her, causing her to stumble back to the ground. Hearing the faint sound of Madara chuckling once again, she couldn't help but growl quietly. The man was downright infuriating.

Out of her peripheral vision she noticed as he casually moved over a pile of random rubble, lifting a foot and placing it on a felled tree trunk. Leaning forward and resting the arm that wasn't holding his battle fan on top of his thigh, he peered over at her.

"I have to admit, you've put up a better fight than I thought you would. You have my begrudging respect, though you are still nowhere near my level. Or Hashirama's for that matter."

She idly wondered what a dead man had to do with any of this, though the stories of how many times the two men fought to a stalemate popped into the forefront of her mind. Not to mention the battle at what they named the Valley of the End.

Grunting, she slowly managed to climb back to her feet, reinforcing her bad knee with chakra so that it hopefully wouldn't give out on her again.

"Ready for more? Very well, let's-"

Madara's comments were cut off as he quickly phased out of existence, a yellow blur passing directly through him, coming to a stop next to Mikoto, but still outside of the glowing aura of Susano'o.

"Mikoto? You need to go! Everyone's coming, I'll take care of this for now until they get here!"

Mikoto turned her head and glared at her old friend and teammate, actually causing him to take a half-step backward.

"Like hell I'm going anywhere! This bastard killed my husband!"

"But you're in no shape to-"

Minato had to flash away as Madara brought his fan down right where the blond had been standing, causing the ground to crack open slightly and making Mikoto stumble backwards.

"Now now, children," Madara chastised, "You shouldn't ignore your betters. That's very rude."

Several kunai impacted the ground near where Madara was standing, and as the man looked down at them there were several flashes of yellow that surrounded him. Mikoto could barely follow, but it appeared as if the aged Uchiha blocked some attacks with his fan, while still phasing out of existence for others.

To Mikoto's shock and horror, Madara simply swung his fan at one point and it managed to hit Minato, obviously stunning the blond as he let out a yell and went flying, crashing into the ground and tumbling a couple more times until he came to a stop, groaning.

"Well, I have to admit, that was a lucky hit. Now for a finisher... how about... Amaterasu!"

Mikoto moved as quickly as she was able, sticking out the sword of her Susano'o so that Madara's Amaterasu was absorbed harmlessly into hers, protecting a Minato who had stopped about halfway from getting to his feet as he stared at the large sword of fire that had just protected him.

"How do you know Amaterasu?!"

Madara simply stared at her for a moment before shaking his head. "The clan must have fallen further than I thought."

A retort was on the tip of Mikoto's tongue, but a glare and a sudden shot of killing intent almost made her bite her tongue in shock. Just how powerful was this man? It was like there was no end to what he was capable of!

"As I was going to say before you were about to interrupt me, the Sharingan is an amazing tool. When my brother died and I took his eyes, not only did I get my sight back, but I also got every technique that he learned using his eyes. It's as if they have a memory of their own.

"Not only that, but the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan has the ability to copy and use the ability of any other Mangekyou Sharingan. Another amazing thing is that there are several techniques that every Uchiha starts with that they will automatically know how to use when the situation arises; the least of which are Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, and Susano'o. Didn't you ever wonder?"

The smile on Madara's face was nearly feral, it sent shivers down Mikoto's spine. She actually hadn't seen him with even a hint of one on his face before now.

She didn't like it. At all. She knew what Tsukuyomi was thanks to Naruto, but her husband didn't know how to perform it... he had only been brought into it before. The tablet in the Uchiha shrine mentioned that there were five techniques gifted to every pair of eyes, but not what they were; her eyes couldn't read the entire tablet anyway so there may have been a description elsewhere. There was a lot that Naruto had shared with her, courtesy of the Itachi from his time, but since he didn't have the Sharingan he couldn't apply any of it and show her.

The arrival of more people to the current battlefield broke Mikoto's current train of thought, and one of the first things she noticed was that Madara's expression had evened out again. Taking a quick look around, she saw that the Sandaime Hokage had landed next to her and was alternating between examining what she was doing and trying to gauge what had been going on in the area around them. On her other side, both of the Hokage's old teammates and current advisers landed.

A little in front of her and off to the side she spotted both Shimura Danzo, Hatake Sakumo, and several members of ANBU. To the other side was the members of the Densetsu no Sannin – Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru.

All together, they had pinned Madara into the center of their formation, though to Mikoto's quickly growing horror the Uchiha didn't look worried in the least. In contrast, he was actually starting to look amused.

"What are you doing, Madara? We thought you were dead!" Mikoto heard the Hokage shout out from next to her.

As usual, the man simply chuckled. "As if Hashirama could truly finish me. The man was truly too kindhearted for his own good."

"Your age has long since passed. You should not be here anymore."

This time, Madara simply snorted. "My age will never pass. Not until I achieve the ultimate peace. Peace through power. I'll become a god if I have to, and I'll be making you my first subjects."

As if to put an exclamation point on his speech, he stared right at Mikoto and smirked. "First, though, I need to take out the trash."

The current Uchiha Matriarch heard several shouts, a few of which were her name, but she was paying more attention to a rather pronounced whisper in her head. She didn't have much time to contemplate it, however, before she let out a scream as she found herself being hit by a large, blunt object and was promptly sent sailing backward. She let out another strangled cry as her back impacted against something that she hoped was a tree because of how loud the cracking noise was.

The whisper in her mind grew louder right before her body went numb and she quickly succumbed to the darkness.

* * *

"So you don't know what it is, but I'm not supposed to go there? What the hell am I supposed to do then?"

"We don't know, sorry. But we're under the impression that it isn't quite your time to move on just yet."

Naruto rubbed his face with his hands, feeling rather incredulous about this entire situation. On one hand he was upset to know that he was dead, leaving behind a vulnerable Mikoto, Itachi, and Konoha. Sure, he had made it stronger, but he was expecting to have a few more years yet before he'd actually have to deal with the threat that was Madara and the Akatsuki. On the other hand it was nice that he got to meet both of his real parents for a change, even if he had long gotten over the feeling that he'd likely never see them again. This current arrangement came as a pleasant surprise in that aspect.

But now he was essentially stuck in limbo. Unable to move on, but not aware of any way to get back either. In a rather strange twist of fate, his parents weren't of much help, either.

Right as another question was about to leave his mouth, both of his parents looked sharply out into the vast blackness that was outside the little room.

"Do you feel that, Kushina?"

His mother simply nodded, before standing up from the table and quickly moving over to grab Naruto in a quick hug.

"Mom?"

She pulled back, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "It seems your time has come to return."

Naruto's eyes widened a bit, and he looked around her into the vast expanse, but not seeing anything. "Are you sure? I don't see anything."

"We're sure. I don't know how, but I for one can just feel it," Minato commented.

Naruto stood and looked to his father, who had also moved over to him and was holding out one of his hands. As he grabbed Minato's hand, the slightly older man pulled his son into a one-armed hug. "I don't think it really needs to be said, but we just want you to know that we're both incredibly proud of you."

Naruto felt his own eyes beginning to tear up as he stepped back from his father. Kushina moved over and placed her arm around Minato's waist, while he placed one over her shoulder.

"When you get back and kick Madara's ass, make sure you give me lots more grandbabies after, okay?"

Her son simply blinked at her owlishly for a moment before a small grin crossed his face. "How many?"

Kushina pretended to think. "Oh, I don't know. Nine total, perhaps?"

The two of them shared a smile as Minato snorted and rolled his eyes. Almost immediately after, Naruto found his body to be surrounded by a white glow that was steadily growing brighter. Realizing that this was what his parents sensed, he waved goodbye, to which they did the same in return with their free hands.

As Naruto closed his eyes when the light got too bright, the last thing he heard was his mother shouting that she loved him, and that she'd better not see him again too soon.

* * *

Kushina watched fretfully as her kinsman performed some strange technique after pulling the sword of of Naruto's body. She didn't actually see anything happen, but shortly after he did it, a green glow surrounded the blond, followed immediately by his mouth opening as he took a deep breath.

It was all the redhead could do to keep from squealing in both shock and joy, but somehow she managed. With a grateful glance at a slightly tired looking Nagato, she propped Naruto's head up into her lap as she waited for him to open his eyes.

Thankfully, it didn't take long.

"Ugh, what hit me?"

The young woman felt the tears start to fall from her eyes again, though this time it was in happiness rather than sadness. As Naruto's bright blue eyes opened, she tried to smile for him, but her lips were trembling too much to pull it off.

As if sensing her feelings, the blond surprised himself at how quickly he was able to shift to his knees and pull her into a hug just as she began bawling into his chest. Feeling horrible for the shock he must have put her through, not to mention Mikoto, he began to take stock of the situation as he tried to figure out where his wife currently was.

Before he got very far, however, another presence moved around into his line of sight. Naruto found himself doing a double-take as he gaped for a moment.

"Nagato?"

The redhead gave him a tight smile and a brief nod. "It would seem that what Jiraiya-sensei told me is true."

Naruto blinked at him for a moment before what really happened dawned on him. "You used Rinne Tensei, didn't you?"

Nagato appeared to be momentarily surprised before nodding once again.

"Thanks."

The other redhead offered a small shrug this time. "It's the least I could do for another Uzumaki."

That brought Naruto up short. After all this time, it had never crossed his mind. Konan never said anything, so perhaps the Nagato from his time never told her his family name. "You're one too?"

All Nagato did was point at his hair, as if that was enough of an answer.

"Right. I'm an idiot."

He both felt and heard Kushina giggle against his chest, which served as a quick reminder that he was still holding her. Leaning back slightly as he released her, she made a show of wiping away at her face to clean it up before giving him a fierce stare.

"Don't you ever do that to me, or anyone else, ever again!"

The blond simply gave her a flat look before sighing and shaking his head. "I don't know if anyone can ever make that promise, but I _can_ promise to put forth my best effort."

Kushina gave him a timid smile before sighing. "I guess that is all anyone can hope for."

The moment she finished speaking a large explosion made the three of them look in the direction of the source, only to see a massive amount of fire and water being thrown about, along with a lot of debris. The fight was definitely still going on.

"Well, perhaps we should go help them take care of Madara. Are you ready to fight with Kyuubi?"

Kushina looked pensive for a moment before her face settled on a determined expression, and she nodded quickly.

Naruto returned the nod as he rose to his feet, offering his hand to his sister to help her up as well. Upon standing up completely, he turned to Nagato.

"If you want to stay here and out of the fight, I'd understand. As much as we could use your help, this isn't really your battle."

To his surprise, Nagato offered a small smile and shook his head negatively. "Actually, the reason Madara is here now is mostly my fault. I will help you as well, though I admit I'm not as good a ninja as my two best friends. My eyes just allow me to do different things."

"Wait... what do you mean you're responsible for Madara being here?"

Nagato looked away towards where the battle was happening for a few brief seconds before staring at Naruto once again. "It was just under two years ago, I think. He sent a messenger of some sort to bring me to his location... I was curious about his message so I went. When I first saw him he was an old man and claimed that he was the one who had given me these eyes when I was younger. I didn't believe him at first, but he managed to convince me since he was able to tell me my entire family history. Supposedly I was given these eyes when I was three.

"He mentioned the Rinne Tensei to me, but wasn't surprised that I already knew the technique. He claimed if I resurrected him into a new body he had prepared after he died, that he would help me attain the peace I long for."

Nagato trailed off for a moment, looking back and forth between Naruto and Kushina, realizing that they were totally engrossed with his story so far. Taking a deep breath, he continued, "So I did it. I haven't heard from him since I brought him back, but he claimed that he had quite a few plans to put into motion first. Then Jiraiya-sensei arrived.

"I was happy to see him of course, it had been a while. Until he started explaining what was really going on. At first I didn't want to listen to him, but gradually what he was telling me began making too much sense. Then when we were alone, he confirmed Naruto was from the future and really knew what was going on, and that I still had family – living blood relatives – here in Konoha."

Nagato made a slow, sweeping gesture around them. "Now... here I am. I suggest that we get moving before Madara does too much more damage."

* * *

Madara held his battle fan in a relaxed pose as he examined his surroundings. After dealing with the current Uchiha clan head and the upstart Yondaime Hokage, the others were making things difficult – but not to any large extent. It was definitely no warm up, other than some phasing he hadn't even had to resort to his other Mangekyou Sharingan abilities again since he last used Amaterasu.

There were quite a few injured and perhaps dead bodies laying around the large training-area-turned-battlefield – why many of them were interested in getting into a fight of this magnitude he didn't understand. They weren't in Konoha proper, so it wasn't like it affected them directly right now. Of course it was a bit of a blow to his pride every time he saw one of the clans that were previously from Water Country attempt to engage him, though none of them lasted more than a few minutes at best.

The ones that gave him the most trouble were the Kaguya. It was truly sad that they moved to Konoha, now he'd have to wipe them out completely when he was done here.

Other than a small handful of their clan, the Sandaime Hokage was still standing, though he had no idea where the brat's teammates were. Well, perhaps Hiruzen wasn't so much of a brat anymore, considering the man looked older than he currently did. He was only a little roughed up and didn't really look to be in bad condition, unlike most of his other forces. Even his own students, the Densetsu no Sannin, had taken a beating.

Well, more like the idiot with the white hair did. Their medic was currently attending to him while the pale one was giving him a calculating stare. No matter.

"Is this the best you and your village have to offer, Hiruzen?" he mocked.

"We're stronger than you know, Madara. I have it on good authority that we're about to get stronger still."

"Spouting nonsense again? Will this be another of your Will of Fire speeches? If so, spare me."

Hiruzen said nothing, but instead crossed his arms over his chest and smirked slightly. Madara narrowed his eyes as he looked at the man. What was he getting so cocky about?

His answer arrived a scant few seconds later, in the form of two golden flashes. He immediately recognized Nagato, and the girl standing to one side of him was the same one who had fled with Naruto before. Speaking of...

"You just couldn't stay dead, could you Naruto?"

The blond, who had a strange golden aura surrounding him, simply smirked. "Missed me, did you?"

Madara grunted, hoisting his fan up so that part of the staff rested on his shoulder. "Not really. Though if I had to be honest, a small part of me was regretting killing you off so early. I'm sure you'd be a better fight than everyone else here."

"Where is my wife, Madara?"

The old Uchiha made a show of looking around before shrugging. "Oh, somewhere out there among the rest of the trash, I'd guess. The same for your newest Hokage."

The two glowing people in front of him looked to be barely able to contain their anger until the third person rested a hand on each of their shoulders, calming them somewhat.

"Ah, Nagato... I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon."

"You didn't leave me much of a choice, when I found out what kind of peace you were really talking about."

Madara rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes. Let me guess, here comes another lecture. It's the same one I've been getting from everyone, about how it isn't peace if no one has free will. To me it certainly seems like all their free will is good for is killing each other. I thought you wanted that stopped?"

"Nearly everyone I know does. But it will be pointless if we don't know who we are anymore."

"Whatever. Does this mean you're going to fight me too?"

Nagato's reply was only two words. He stuck out both of his hands in front of him, and in a commanding voice, stated '_Bansho Ten'in!_'.

Starting to feel the pull, Madara shifted his posture so that one leg moved forward slightly in a bracing stance, then lifted his free arm and showed his own palm to Nagato, finally opened his long-concealed right eye, and repeated the phrase.

Several seconds of shocked silence followed. Madara took a quick glance around, noticing that only Naruto didn't seem surprised at this event. For some reason he found himself gritting his teeth in frustration – did nothing surprise the brat?

Putting it out of his mind for the moment, he focused in on Nagato once again. "I gave you my own original eyes. I thought you'd enjoy the present, not try to use them against me. It really is no matter, though, since I know their every weakness anyway."

* * *

"_I was afraid of this. Are the two of you ready?"_

"_Yes,"_ came Kurama's gruff reply in his mind. Surprisingly when Naruto had been revived they discovered that they could both speak clearly through their linked seals. Apparently all it took was forcing both of their current chakras into Naruto's seal - something they hadn't even thought about attempting to try.

"_Remember, we've only managed to fill you up with enough of my chakra to last maybe five minutes at most. I can support Kushina indefinitely so long as she doesn't go around wasting Shadow Clones and Menacing Balls like you used to, but if I have to start feeding you chakra as well I'm going to get drained fast."_

"_Understood. Kushina?"_

"_Yes?"_

"_If you find an opening, take him out. Otherwise we just need to find a way to pin him or keep him occupied so Nagato can work his magic."_

"_Got it."_

"Nagato."

The blond saw the redhead turn to look at him out of his peripheral vision. "What is it?"

"If you find an opening, take it. I think our best chance would be for you to use the Human Path. You can use it as you are now, right?"

"Yes." Nagato's response came out more like a question than a confirmation. Naruto understood why when he was asked another question, "You've seen all of what I can do?"

Naruto shrugged, but still not looking away from Madara. "Most of it, probably. But at least this time you aren't using six bodies by having chakra transmission rods sticking out of your back."

There was a momentary pause before his new friend simply said, "Oh."

* * *

One of many clones was quickly moving through both rubble and moaning bodies, looking for someone. Someone very important to him.

The clone desperately wanted to stop and help many of the people that were obviously injured, some of which were mewling for anyone to help them. It would have made more copies of itself to try and help ease the pain in any way possible, were it not for strict orders.

Keeping an ear and eye out for trouble and making sure the fight wasn't coming back this way, once the clone finally laid it's eyes on the subject of it's search anything and everything else became unimportant.

Mikoto was laying there, her back against a tree that had collapsed behind her. His wife's head was drooped down to her chest while her arms were splayed out from her sides, as if she had simply been a puppet whose strings were cut.

Quickly making it's way over, the first thing the clone did was lift her head slightly and touch her neck, feeling for a pulse. It wasn't long before one was found, allowing it a deep sigh of relief. All things considered, other than some tears to her jonin uniform and some superficial cuts on her face and arms, she didn't really look all that worse for wear.

Utilizing a diagnostic technique that he had learned forever ago courtesy of Sakura in Naruto's original timeline, the clone checked over his wife to see if she was badly injured. To the clone's pleasant surprise, however, it couldn't detect anything wrong with her other than a mild case of chakra depletion.

In its limited capacity for self-thought, the clone wasn't really able to consider what Mikoto's current cause of unconsciousness was, but it had one more order left to follow. Since she wasn't awake the task only became a little more complex, but it still could be done – the clone simply hoped that it had enough chakra left to complete it's job.

Gently cupping Mikoto's face in it's hands, the clone pressed it's lips to hers, starting an information transfer process through chakra that Naruto had discovered during the Fourth War, one which technically only needed basic skin to skin contact. However, no one else was around or coherent enough to pay attention to the current goings on... and, well... she was Naruto's wife after all.

After a few seconds, the clone began to fade and become almost transparent, before it disappeared with a small popping noise and no smoke, unlike it normally would.

Among the sounds of rustling leaves and a fight still going on in the distance, Uchiha Mikoto gasped and woke.

* * *

Madara grunted as he blocked a punch from the glowing girl, only to have to duck another swing from Naruto that likely would have taken his head off if he wasn't careful. His Rinnegan was active in both eyes now, which was both fortunate and unfortunate at the same time. On the negative side it kept him from using all of his Sharingan techniques, unless he felt like parting with more chakra than was safe at this point.

Worst of all was Susano'o since it used too much chakra even with the Sharingan active, and even though his own reserves were incredible, they were not limitless. He might have been able to take on and make short work of everyone here with it, but he wasn't willing to chance it since he had no idea what kind of technique Naruto and the other girl were using right now.

Oh, he knew that the girl was an Uzumaki and was the jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi, and his original thought was that he'd simply suppress it with his own Sharingan and his implanted DNA from Senju Hashirama. He only paused with his attempt because Naruto was able to do the same thing, and there was no possible way that both of them had the Kyuubi sealed inside them. The very thought was ludicrous. It made him wonder if they were in fact not using Kyuubi at all, but doing something he had never seen before.

So using the Rinnegan was his best course of action right now since it opened up a few more techniques that he could use, not to mention it would all but make him immune to his own eyes which the traitor Nagato currently held. Such a disappointment, even if it was an oversight on his part. How was he supposed to know that the few scattered Uzumaki in the Elemental Nations actually kept in touch with each other? He'd never seen any evidence of it before, not even when he visited Nagato a few years ago.

He was forced to bite back a curse as the Yondaime Hokage joined into the battle as well. Apparently he had sufficiently recovered from getting smacked around by the battle fan and was now currently flashing in and out of the fight, attacking any openings he could find when Naruto or the girl left one.

Madara knew he couldn't keep going on like this forever, and he couldn't phase out either since that was a Sharingan technique and currently locked away because of exorbitant chakra cost with his Rinnegan active. Finding an opening was proving nearly useless as well, with three speedy opponents constantly flashing around him.

"To hell with this. _Shinra Tensei!_"

The three of them were immediately thrown backwards, away from him. Taking the small reprieve to gain stock of his surroundings, he wasn't given much of an opportunity as he registered the same voice calling out the names of two different techniques. One wind, one fire.

Quickly turning, he noticed as the Sandaime Hokage used a combination technique with a Shadow Clone to send a quickly moving column of fire at him. Smirking slightly, he simply held out his hand as the column of fire hit him. Hashirama's old student stared at Madara in shock as the technique simply evaporated around him.

"Thanks for the recharge. Here's a present of my own in return. _Mokuton: Sashiki!_"

The look of surprise quickly switched to a grimace as the Sandaime brought his Adamantine staff to bear, smashing the blade-shaped pieces of wood that got close to him. Knowing that things could potentially get dicey if he had to handle any more than he was dealing with now, Madara brought his hands together for another technique while ducking an attack from Naruto, who had recovered more quickly than he expected.

"_Mokuton: Jukai Heki!"_

A series of thick and quick growing branches began to sprout from the ground between him and the Sandaime, and continued spreading in a semicircle. They kept growing bigger and more interlocking until nothing was visible on the other side, and it effectively cut his current attackers off from more than half of the battlefield and any support.

It wouldn't last long as he could already hear the sounds of snapping wood, but it shouldn't be beneath his abilities to handle these three upstarts before anyone broke through.

"_Rasengan!"_

"Wha-" His mouth snapped shut as he whirled around to face the latest attack, a giant ball of spinning chakra being held between the girl and the Yondaime, who were both running at him with surprising speed.

As he prepared to absorb the mass of chakra, however, it shrunk in size slightly as the Yondaime flashed over to him with a kunai in each hand. Shifting quickly, the Uchiha grunted as one of the kunai caught him in the thigh, even though he managed to block the other one with his fan. To his benefit, the Yondaime Hokage looked both surprised and pleased that he had managed to succeed, but his moment of victory was his own undoing as the handle of Madara's fan swing around and caught him in the gut.

With an 'oof' sound, the blond went flying once again. His action must have further enraged the jinchuuriki, as she continued moving forward with the large Rasengan. Ignoring the pain of the kunai still stuck in his leg, he shifted to the side and absorbed what he could from the technique as it narrowly grazed him.

The poor girl, however, overextended slightly with the attack. She attempted to recover, but Madara spun around with his good leg and kicked her in the back, sending her flying away with a scream. He watched dispassionately as she crashed into the ground nearby, her golden cloak flickering for a few moments as she struggled to climb back to her feet.

That's when he finally noticed a loud screeching noise coming from behind him. Turning around quickly once again and preparing to defend against and attack from Naruto, he was instead mildly surprised to see the thorn in his side simply standing there.

The other blond was no longer glowing with the golden chakra cloak like before, and he idly wondered if his attack connecting with the jinchuuriki girl had anything to do with it. Madara did notice, however, that the young man in front of him appeared to have some sort of orange pigmentation around his eyes. Not only that but he felt... different. It was hard to describe other than the fact that he had a much harder time sensing the boy, even if he was completely visible.

Madara's eyes narrowed. This was new. So was this attack, though it looked to be some variation of what the other two had done before. The Rasengan.

"Fool. You know I can absorb any chakra."

Much to his displeasure, Naruto simply shrugged and smirked at him. "Perhaps. But even Nagato learned he couldn't absorb this technique."

With a shout of '_Fuuton: Rasenshuriken!_', the blond hurled the spinning mass of chakra at him. Madara stared at in in momentary shock, wondering how Naruto managed to keep such dense chakra from dispersing. Quickly regaining his bearings, he started to move his hand forward to absorb it.

Then it _expanded._

Madara had seen a lot in his long life. While the Sharingan was a good tool for identifying and copying techniques even without needing to understand the intricacies of them, the Rinnegan was the ultimate at dissection, for lack of a better word. While he couldn't simply 'copy' and re-use a technique like he could with the Sharingan, the Rinnegan would show him exactly what a technique did.

He definitely did not like what he was seeing. Sadly he didn't really have much time to inspect it as it was rapidly expanding further as it bore down on him. But with the exception of the Menacing Ball, he had never seen such pure destruction put into such a little package before.

There was no way he'd be able to absorb it all in time. He prepared to absorb what he could as he brought his fan around to block it. Just in time too, as the outer edge of the technique started to press against it.

If he learned one thing from this fight, it was that the Rasenshuriken certainly took its time to do its thorough job. Madara was grunting with effort as he tried to keep his battle fan in front of him as it blocked the worst of the destruction. He used the Preta Path ability of his eyes to absorb what he could of the chakra that still assaulted him from the sides. He knew he wasn't able to get it all as random sharp stabbing pains began to affect him all over from the microscopic wind blades that he couldn't stop.

After what felt like an eternity, the Uchiha breathed deeply as he tried to ignore the phantom pains all over his body. His chakra flow was still fine, so it was likely only superficial damage. Sadly, it looked like he would need a new battle fan, as this one was smoking in places and now had a few holes in it. Madara winced as he shifted his hands on the handle. They hurt a lot more than he wanted, but since he could still feel chakra flowing in them, all was well.

There was a rustling noise behind him, and he tried to turn around yet again... only this time a heavy weight settled on his leg. Looking down he saw that the Yondaime Hokage had apparently flashed over to him again and was holding the leg so that he couldn't move it, while one hand was on the handle of the kunai that was still stuck there. Of course! Of all the-

Madara's thought processes were interrupted as Naruto moved over and quickly grabbed an arm, holding on to it. Not sure what was going on now, Madara attempted to knock Naruto away with his fan, only for the jinchuuriki girl – who was glowing again – to grab that arm and hold it tight. He was effectively pinned, though he didn't really understand the point.

Shaking his head and letting out a sigh, the Uchiha closed his eyes. Perhaps it was time for round... what was this, three?

"_Shinra Te-"_

The technique was stopped as something chilling and alien invaded his body from behind, gripping his body in a way that felt both familiar and terrifying. Looking down he noticed a large chakra construct that was piercing him through the center of his chest.

"How does it feel... to have a blade in your chest, you monster?"

Looking over his shoulder, his eyes opened wide as he saw Uchiha Mikoto standing behind him with one of her eyes closed. She was leaning forward and was breathing heavily, with two glowing skeletal arms appearing from her sides. One was holding the blade that was going through him, while the other was holding a... no... it couldn't be!

Madara was vaguely aware as his arms and leg were released. Gritting his teeth, he knew that this blade bound his body so that he couldn't move. However, it was _his_ blade before, so he knew of a way to fight it, but it would take all of his concentration.

"Nagato, your turn."

While he was already chilled from having the blade thrust through him, a feeling of dread in his stomach began to solidify as Nagato moved around from his other side. He was vaguely aware as others began approaching as well... apparently they had either finally broken through the branches or the Rasenshuriken had enough range to destroy them.

He didn't want to admit it, but deep down he knew there was no way he'd be able to win this particular battle. His own arrogance had cost him, but he could learn from this experience. There were a few ideas as to how he could come back since he knew how to get around the blade eventually, but it would take time. He would have broken free now, but with Nagato here that plan wouldn't work since the redhead could keep Madara's soul with his body to make sure it was all sealed.

He couldn't keep a small smirk off his face, now. "Well, Naruto... it seems as you win this round."

Naruto eyed Madara critically. "This round? I have no idea what you're talking about."

The old Uchiha shook his head. "I used to own this blade. I have no idea how you acquired it, but if I'm going to be sealed then you should know I can get out of it. Time is all I need, and I have plenty of it. I'll be back."

The ball of dread in Madara's gut only grew more pronounced as Naruto smiled at him. "You technically died once, remember? It's how Nagato brought you back in a new body. I'm sure you recall how the blade ended up with you?"

"Of course. It passed down to me when the previous head died." It was almost comical the way a light seemed to go off in Madara's head, as understanding immediately appeared in his unique eyes. "I see. I seem to have overlooked quite a lot in my quest. Rest assured it won't happen again."

"You're right, it won't," Naruto's smile turned feral, "You know how the Sword of Totsuka works, as you said. It can seal anything it wants to. That means if it only wants to seal away your body, it will only seal away your body."

Madara's eyes went wide again as the implications set in.

"It seems as though you understand. Nagato will be handling your soul."

As if that line was the cue, Nagato's hands stretched forward and everyone watched as Madara appeared to lurch and blur for a moment. The man screamed for a few seconds before there was almost complete silence. With a swishing noise, Madara's physical body began to bend and shift in ways that weren't possible, before it collapsed in on itself into the sword, leaving only a transparent wraith-like figure behind.

Mikoto pulled the sword out of the soul, sheathing it in the jar in Susano'o's other skeletal hand before nearly collapsing forward from exhaustion. Both Naruto and Kushina quickly moved forward to grab her arms, keeping the woman steady as they let her settle down to the ground.

Meanwhile, Nagato stared blankly at the soul for a moment before moving it a little to his right, where to those who couldn't see the King of Hell... it simply disappeared. Looking around, he noticed both Hokages staring at him.

"It's done. He's gone."

Both of them looked immensely relieved, then moved over to where Naruto and Kushina were crouched down next to Mikoto, speaking with her quietly. Minato crouched down in front of her, while the Sandaime stood close by.

"I'm so glad to see you're okay... both of you" Minato smiled at both his friend-slash-alternate son and his old teammate, both of whom offered a tired smile in return. "Looking at Naruto's body with a sword stuck in it was bad enough. Seeing you crash into that tree, I thought you were killed in front of me."

Mikoto sighed and nodded. "I saw Naruto killed in front of me so I know what that feels like. As for me, I actually did die. Or I would have. But there is another technique I could use at the cost of one of my eyes called Izanagi. Don't ask me how I learned about it because I couldn't tell you. It's almost like I just knew what it was and how to use it right as I was about to die."

An uncomfortable silence settled on the group momentarily. "Is that why..." Kushina broke the quiet and looked curious about something, but her voice trailed off. When Mikoto noticed where her best friend's eyes seemed to linger but not directly stare, it wasn't hard to pick up on the unasked question.

"Yes, that's why my eye is closed. I can't open it at all. I lifted it with my finger before I got here to check, but I couldn't see anything. Total darkness."

"What about your other eye? I understand you were using quite a few techniques." Naruto inquired, frowning slightly as he recalled his knowledge of the Mangekyou.

Mikoto looked up at her husband affectionately, bringing one hand towards his face to gently brush it across his cheek. "You're a bit blurry, but I can still tell that you're the man I fell for."

Naruto smiled at her, placing his hand lightly on top of hers. "You know, we still have your father's eyes that he gave me. Do you want them?"

His wife actually looked surprised for a moment, as if she completely forgot about it before adopting a more pensive expression. "I... don't know. I'm not sure if I should. Can I... can I think about it some, or would you not like it if I was like this?"

Naruto didn't even have to consider it for a second. "I'm perfectly fine with whatever you choose. Honestly though? Having an eye patch over one eye with a bright red Sharingan in the other? If that's not downright sexy and exotic, I don't know what is."

Mild laughter came from the other three listening in as Mikoto's hand went around the back of Naruto's neck and she pulled him in for a kiss. As it continued, Minato and Kushina both looked away, while the Sandaime felt compelled to clear his throat to get their attention.

"As much as I hate to break this up," he said with a cheeky smile, causing the two to blush, "I need to know for certain that Madara really is gone. We don't need him creeping back up when we least expect it."

Both Mikoto and Naruto nodded at the same time, though it was Mikoto who spoke. "You saw that I stabbed him with the Sword of Totsuka. It essentially can bind anything _at all_ forever, or until I or the next holder releases it. It's a legendary item among my clan that is passed down to the current head of the clan when the previous one dies. My father never got it, and neither did the head before him, so we thought it was lost."

When Mikoto stopped talking and looked expectantly at her husband, he took it as the cue to continue. "When one of my clones found Mikoto, it made sure she was okay and if she was, it's next job was to remind her of the sword. Upon talking with Nagato before heading into the fight I was reminded of a brief conversation I had in my time about the sword with the person who had inherited it. Mikoto would have had it for nearly two years, but as she didn't have the Mangekyou yet there was no way for her to check."

The blond graced his wife with a brief smile, which she returned, before he finished talking to the Sandaime. "I'm glad she was able to use it, because if she wasn't our job was still possible with Nagato's help. It would have involved wearing Madara down enough to the point where he wouldn't be able to protect himself from Nagato's soul capture technique, and I'm not sure how many we might have lost had it gone that way.

"Believe me, compared to the hell I came from, this was a much better alternative."

When Naruto finished talking, it was as if a huge weight had been lifted from Hiruzen's shoulders. The man sighed in relief before rubbing his forehead. "So he really is gone, then."

There was a chorus of affirmatives, and with a thankful smile and a nod, the Sandaime wandered off to tell the others the news.

After the silence among them stretched out for a few comfortable moments, Minato chuckled, causing all attention to focus on him. "So... since that's done and the Third War is over... what do we do now?

"Now?" Naruto grinned. "I'm up for a festival. How about you guys?"

There was another chorus of agreements, before Minato and Kushina both excused themselves to go talk to the Sandaime about it right away. When they had wandered far enough away, he heard Mikoto murmur his name.

Looking down at her, he paused for a moment upon seeing the slight frown on her face. "What's wrong?"

"I should be asking you that." Her hand rose once again, brushing across his cheek. She turned her fingers around to show him that they were wet. "Why are you crying, Naruto?"

The fact that he had tears running down his face surprised him, but he confirmed it by wiping his other cheek and looking at his hand. "I... I don't know. I guess I just feel so much relief that it's finally over, and I'm... well... free? I don't have a madman to deal with any more."

"We're all free, thanks to your efforts. I'm glad we were all able to help even a little along the way."

Nodding in acceptance but not saying anything further, he settled down on the ground next to his wife, grabbing her hand and holding it in his as she rested her head against his shoulder.

"I love you, Mikoto."

"I love you, too."

* * *

A/N: Just the epilogue left. I know I can't please everyone, but hopefully this pleased most of you. After I post the epilogue I'm likely going to go back and remove all the author notes with the exception of my blog link.

As always, for further information, insights as to why this took me so long if you care to know why, etc... the blog can be visited.

paradoxjast . blogspot . com


	18. Epilogue

Fair warning, only because every single review so far seems to mention it - this switches to first person perspective. The reasons will become clear as you read, it just wouldn't flow nearly as well in third. The epilogue is entirely optional so don't feel that you have to read it, but I still feel it's a relatively nice closing point. But then I'm the one who wrote it... so yeah. Take it or leave it - the choice is yours. Enjoy, hopefully.

* * *

Epilogue

As is the situation on most days, I have no idea why I woke up when I did. My blanket was warm and I was in a very comfortable position, prompting thoughts as to why, for the life of me, I could not fall back into the blissful oblivion of sleep.

Then again, I realized it should not have come as much of a surprise, as I'd gotten quite used to only needing four or five hours of sleep in order to regain full functionality. Honestly, I usually didn't even need that much.

Finally yawning and deciding that no matter how much I desired it, I wasn't going to fall back asleep if only because my body was wired that way. Sitting up with a groan, I stretched and prepared for my normal morning routine.

Only to stop short when I realized that I wasn't in my room. Well, _technically_ it was my room... I simply didn't have much use for it anymore. One of the perks of my job was that I got a fully furnished apartment on the premises, and a large majority of the time I just used that. It's what it was there for, after all.

After waking up the rest of the way and going through the motions of the morning routine, the first place I headed was the kitchen. Softly padding down the hallways and entering the bright room, a small smile settled on my face as my eyes landed upon the only other person in the room. Considering I hadn't seen or heard anyone else yet, it was likely she was the only other one here. Everyone else had their own things to deal with, after all.

"Good morning, Orihime-san."

The long-tenured family maid turned her head slightly to look over her shoulder, offering me a small smile before she turned back to her task.

"Good morning. You were just going to bed when I got here. I'll never understand how you shinobi function on so little sleep."

I couldn't stop a chuckle from leaving my lips. "I remember a lesson from Tsunade-sama long ago, something about shinobi having an enhanced metabolism due to our active chakra systems."

Orihime hummed for a moment before nodding. "Well, that would explain some things..." I could hear her murmur something more, but decided against paying attention. The smell of food was becoming overpowering, and my stomach chose to announce its displeasure at still being empty.

"My my, always so demanding."

"Who, me or my stomach?"

Orihime turned from the counter with a nicely prepared meal as she walked over to me. She always enjoyed teasing me, and this moment didn't seem like it would be any different. "Well, usually both. But your stomach is definitely much easier to please. I was preparing a meal, thinking you would be waking up until later to eat it. I was just getting ready to wrap it up. You have impeccable timing."

I hummed and started digging into my food as soon as it was placed in front of me. Delicious as always. Looking up I noticed that Orihime was taking off her apron, which she never did unless she was leaving. Well-ingrained manners made certain that I quickly chewed and swallowed before posing the ultimate question:

"Where are you going?"

Orihime offered a faint smile as she grabbed her work bag and headed towards the front door. "I promised to meet Gendo-kun at the Academy. They have half-lessons today because of the upper years' graduation testing, remember?"

My eyes widened as my brain finally decided to kick into gear. It would have come back to me as the day went on, I was well known for being a bit of an airhead for up to an hour after I woke up.

"Thanks for the reminder. Tell the brat I said hello."

Orihime's tinkling laugh came from the entryway. "I will. Can I trust you to clean up after yourself?"

"I guess. I'm not a kid anymore, you know."

"Really? You could have fooled me." I heard the front door open. "Have a good day."

The door closed, and I grumbled to myself as I returned to consuming my morning meal. I loved Orihime dearly, and to be honest she was one of maybe five people anywhere in the Elemental Nations that I would allow to get away with calling me names. She knew it too, though to her credit she only acted that way when we were alone or around our respective families.

As I turned back to my food, my eyes happened to scan over the counter where she had been standing. I noticed that while all the food had been put away, there were still dishes to clean.

Dammit. I hated doing the dishes.

* * *

Today was technically supposed to be my one day of the week off barring any unforseen emergencies, so I took full advantage of that fact. Dressed in my usual jonin attire, complete with orange open-fingertip gloves and both Uchiha and Uzumaki crests embroidered onto the collar of my flak vest.

Making my way slowly around the former Uchiha District, I offered greetings and was given many in return as I moved from stall to stall, checking for any interesting items one of the vendors may have had. None of them seemed to have changed much inventory since I was last through here about a month ago, but I'm not sure what I was expected. While aimlessly wandering around the village was not something I was responsible for, most of the people I talked to appeared to appreciate my visits.

Moving back to one of the main paths and looking around once again, I couldn't help but marvel at how quickly things were capable of changing. What had once been a primarily residential district had managed to transform into a large trade bazaar that always had something exciting going on. The Uchiha clan was still headquartered here, of course, as was my 'permanent' home, even if I used my apartment more often than not.

Hiding a yawn behind my hand, I gradually made my way out of the bazaar and onto the main concourse, idly watching as carts drawn by all manner of creatures from horses to mules to even the people themselves as they went by. Some recognized me and offered greetings, which I felt compelled to return.

I had a destination in mind, thinking that I hadn't seen the people that resided there in a while. Well... it had been maybe three days, but in my line of work it felt like forever. Hopping up to the rooftops, a few quick jumps had my target in sight, and it was barely thirty seconds later that I landed silently outside of a small, well maintained area.

The Uzumaki Compound.

That was the official title on the books at least. I'd heard the Yondaime grudgingly refer to it as the Hellhole every once in a while. I'm certain it was in a completely affectionate manner. Really. He was usually smiling when he said it.

Walking over to one of the larger houses, I knocked on the door, honestly unsure if anyone was home at this hour. Luckily it didn't take long for me to hear footsteps running up to the door, followed by said door being yanked open and a little missile with red hair jumping right into my gut.

"Hikari-oneesama!"

Trying to ease the pain in my abdomen and peel the little squirt off of me at the same time, I couldn't help but chuckle. "What are you doing home, Chika-chan? I thought you still had school today?"

Before the little girl could answer, there was a faint laugh from the doorway. Looking up, I saw one of the women I admired most in the world... after my own mother, of course.

"Chika was complaining that she wasn't feeling good this morning, and since it was a short day I let her stay home. However she seems fine now, so perhaps I should oversee her training myself for the rest of the afternoon? Hmm?"

"Ohhh, I'm not feeling so good..." The spunky redhead collapsed in a controlled manner onto the ground at my feet, moaning piteously. I tried to keep it back, but I'm pretty sure a giggle escaped my lips.

"Is there something I can do for you, Hikari-chan? It's nice to see you, as always."

I tried to keep my face from twitching, but I'm pretty sure it did since the woman in front of me immediately graced me with one of her knowing smirks. Other than Orihime-san, this lady was one of the others I'd _unwillingly_ allow to treat me like a kid, but get away with it.

"Yes, actually. Do you know where Minato-ojisan is, Kushina-obasan?"

Kushina actually rolled her eyes and shook her head. "No, sorry. Last he told me he was working on some super secret project with Morino Ibiki and Yamanaka Inoichi. Something to do with the sensory barrier, I'd guess."

The older redhead snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. "Men and their toys," she muttered.

On one hand, I felt myself agreeing. On the other hand, however, I understood the necessity of the barrier. We kept impeccable records of all people who entered the village both legally and illegaly. At least we tried to, no village security system was perfect, no matter how much I'd like to delude myself that ours was.

"I see," I said, shrugging. "Well, if you see him, can you let him know that I'm looking for him? It's not that important, but I'd like to pick his brain about a few things."

"Certainly, Hikari-chan."

I nodded and was about to walk off, before her voice stopped me. "By the way, do you know when Jirou-kun might come over to visit again? Naomi misses her best friend."

To be honest, I wasn't sure how to respond to that. Jirou was my next youngest sibling, and he was a bit of a hothead... or at least he used to be. He and Uzumaki Naomi had been virtually inseparable growing up, but something happened a few months ago. They got into some massive fight, and Jirou pretty much turned into a recluse.

I was curious, naturally... but I wasn't the type to pry into someone's private business. I don't know if he appreciated that or not, because I very rarely got anything more than one word answers out of him. Sadly, we were never that close growing up because Naomi pretty much hogged him all to herself, so pulling out the sibling card to help him with his problems was a definite no-go.

"You know I can't very well order my brother to do something he doesn't want to do, right?" I spit that out with a bit more vitriol than I intended, and immediately felt guilty when a wince passed across my aunt's face before she looked away. I immediately opened my mouth to apologize, but she beat me to it.

"No, I understand. I didn't mean it like that, but she's been inconsolable for a while now and I have no idea what's wrong."

I let out a sigh. "Did you ask her what happened?"

"I tried." My aunt pushed some loose strands of hair back behind her ear. "She won't answer me. All she does now is go about her business like a drone. Even her usual teammates have visited, asking if I could do something. I'm at my wits end."

I grimaced. "If I talk to her, it won't end well, you know. Even if she is my cousin, we've never really gotten along." Perhaps that was a bit blunt, but it was the truth. I think in every family you're guaranteed to have at least one person you don't like all that much. For my family, that person was Naomi.

Not just because she pretty much stole one of my brothers from me, but she also loved being the center of attention. In class when she was in the academy, on her squad, in any bar. She let the fame of her parents get to her a little too much, and for all intents and purposes acted like a spoiled little princess.

I know for a fact that my aunt didn't raise her like that, and even if Minato-ojisan could go easy on her from time to time, I have no idea where she learned that behavior from. She was so bad at times that even _my_ dad tried to keep her at arms length.

Now _that_ is saying something.

Kushina didn't say anything further regarding Naomi, instead letting out a small sigh before clapping her hands. "Come on, Chika. Get up and get inside. You've got some studying to do, or there will be no dessert for you tonight after dinner."

The little redhead hopped to her feet faster than I thought possible, and without so much as a 'by-your-leave' ran around her mother back into the house.

"By the way," Kushina began once Chika was back in the house, "Nagato returned from Rain Country yesterday, he's visiting with his niece. You know the one, Konan and Yahiko's little girl?"

"Of course!" I smiled. The girl was adorable, and could do amazing things with paper. "Since he's back, do you think he'd have some free time to do a little training?"

My aunt smiled at me. I was once again struck by how pretty she was. For a forty-something, she didn't even really look thirty. Uzumaki longevity is amazing.

"If he wasn't available I wouldn't have mentioned it. He actually suggested it to me when he got back, but he wants a day to rest first."

I waved my hand. "No problem. Just tell him to stop by when he has time. I'll make some free time for myself."

"Certainly. Thanks for stopping by, Hikari-chan. I'll make sure to mention to my husband that you're looking for him. Whenever he decides to stop playing with his toys and come home, anyway."

I grinned slightly, secretly relieved that she either forgot to talk more about Naomi or decided to leave the subject be. Either way was fine with me. Waving goodbye, I jumped back up to the rooftops, thinking about what I wanted my next destination to be.

Frowning, I quickly realized that I didn't have much to do, short of perhaps going shopping or tagging around with one of my family members. Perhaps a random, surprise visit to one of Konoha's departments? Nah. It's my day off.

Sighing internally, I started jumping around from rooftop to rooftop, stretching my senses and looking for familiar signatures. I had the chakra 'feeling' of all my immediate family memorized, so I knew how to pinpoint them exactly should the need ever arise. So far it hadn't, but better safe than sorry.

As I neared the edge of the second ring of Konoha, I started picking up one... no... two traces outside the village in one of the training grounds. As I got closer, I noticed that it was Training Area Sixteen, which was often used by chunin who were experimenting with new techniques.

Imagine my surprise to find Jirou there along with my next youngest sister, Amaya. Jirou was watching her with his Sharingan active, while she appeared to be doing some sort of chakra-related exercise. Her chakra was fluctuating a bit, but it was nothing severe. Both of them looked up when I landed.

Jirou's Sharingan immediately faded, returning back to his dark onyx colored eyes. Amaya, meanwhile, stood up and rushed over to me, giving me a tight hug. "Neesan! It feels like forever since I saw you!"

"Well, you were out on assignment for three weeks, and I was busy when you got back. So, in our line of work, it sort of has been forever."

She grinned at me and I looked to see if I could notice any changes. At sixteen, she was already what I'd consider a knockout beauty, though I liked to believe I was no slouch in the looks department either. However while I took after my father, Amaya more resembled our mother.

If I was to be petty and further compare our looks, she had legs I would gladly kill for, though I beat her handily in the bust department. We both kept our hair at about the same length, just above our shoulder blades – however my hair was a deep golden color just like my father, whereas Amaya had a rather unique very deep red. So deep that it appeared black unless you held it directly under a bright light.

The one trait we did share was that we both were born with our father's bright blue eyes, though mine had leaned more towards a greenish-blue.

Glancing over at my younger brother, I saw him staring dispassionately at us, not moving.

"Hey there, Jirou."

He simply nodded, followed by a succinct, "Hello."

"What, you're not going to come give your big sister a hug?" I rearranged my face into a pout, hoping to tease him a little, but as usual lately he completely ignored it. Snorting, I began arguing with myself about mentioning Naomi, but Amaya posed a question to me that made me temporarily forget about it.

"Hikari-neesan, you know the Rasengan, right?"

Raising an eyebrow, I slowly nodded my head. "Yeah. It's something like a rite of passage in our family." That was perhaps stretching the truth a bit, even if from a certain perspective it was true. We weren't forced to do it at any point, but when asked about it we were all willingly given instructions by the adults. Now it had become something of a new tradition. I knew for a fact that my older brother and Jirou could both do it, and I'd seen my cousin Masahiro do it as well. The only one I didn't know for sure was Naomi... but I didn't really care about her anyway.

Among all of my siblings and cousins I did hold a trump card - I was the only one who could successfully complete and use the Rasenshuriken other than my father. Uncle Minato could make one, but he needed four clones to my two, _and_ he was completely wiped out after making one.

"Do you have any tips?"

I eyed her hands critically. "Has Jirou suggested anything?"

Amaya frowned briefly before fixing into a neutral mask, shaking her head. The frown was quick, but I saw it. "He said that he'd let me know if something was wrong, but other than that, nothing."

Nodding more to myself than anyone else, I did a hand-seal then held it to the inside of my left wrist. A small puff of smoke later and a small marker appeared in my right hand. Most people thought it was silly of me to seal away writing utensils, but in my line of work I never knew when I'd need to sign something.

Reaching out and grabbing Amaya's left hand, I made our leaf symbol in the middle of her palm. A few of the lines were a little squiggly, but I'm sure she understood what it was. As I re-sealed my marker away, my sister looked curiously at the mark, then back at me, obviously waiting for an explanation.

"Focus your chakra onto that point. Worry about the power later, right now you just need to be able to focus, focus, focus. When you can feel the chakra in your hand, start spinning it in one direction first, then continue adding directions until you can contain all that spinning chakra into a ball. Add some power to it and you'll have a Rasengan before you know it."

As if to solidify my point, in a little over a second I had lifted my hand and held a perfectly round Rasengan in it. Amaya looked at it, then me, and finally nodded with a smile. "Thanks, neesan."

"Of course."

As Amaya moved towards the shade of some trees to practice for a little while, I slowly walked over to Jirou, who stared at me the entire way. At first I was getting cold feet, but I knew deep down that _something_ needed to be done.

"I know you likely don't want to hear this, but you need to do something about Naomi."

His face immediately darkened, and I believed with that one sentence I effectively burned any amount of sibling-sympathy I had from him.

"Kushina came just short of begging me today. I don't know what it is that's going on between you two, but I for one am tired of it. I miss the brother I almost never had because that girl sunk her fangs into you early, and now you're essentially a recluse. I don't care what you have to do – short of outright killing or injuring her, anyway – but this shit needs to stop, _now_. Do you understand?"

I hated to pull the authority card – as limited as it was over family – but I really was tired of this whole situation. I was tempted to bribe some of the mission assignment people to give Naomi some long term border patrol mission on the ass-end of nowhere. I'd even be willing to prostrate myself before my aunt and uncle to beg for forgiveness, believing it was a necessary evil to do so.

Jirou had paled as I moved along on my rant, before scowling near the end and simply disappearing with a Body Flicker.

I sighed. So much for that.

"Neesan?"

"Hm?"

"Was that really necessary?"

I couldn't stop my shoulders from shrugging. "Perhaps. Perhaps not. At this point I'm about to give up on him and Naomi both. They need a kick in their respective rears. I don't like getting involved in personal affairs like that, but Kushina-obasan asked me to try to do something... so..."

"Okay."

Amaya was awesome. She always accepted simple explanations and didn't press for details unless lives depended on it. My parents were both usually the same way. It was amazing when child-rearing worked correctly.

I was about to ask my sister if she needed any further help with learning the Rasengan, but a flare of chakra from an arriving ANBU operative stopped that. It was a woman with long, flowing purple hair, though she didn't look to be in uniform.

I have to admit that I'm biased towards some people, if it hasn't been obvious already... though I believe most others are just like me. Yuugao is one of my favorite people since she used to babysit me on occasion when I was little, along with the rest of her genin team. It sucks when everyone grows old and starts doing their own things, though there were a few bonds that I tried desperately to keep from breaking. Yuugao was one of them.

"Yuugao-nee, how are you?"

She graced me with a small smile as she walked closer, offering the same to Amaya who made a point to go over and hug the other woman. "I'm doing well. How are both of you?"

We both chirped that we were fine. I then simply stared at her with a raised eyebrow, physically asking her what she was doing all the way out here. As brilliant as Yuugao is, she picked up on it immediately.

"I met your brother in passing, he asked to meet you at your office when it's convenient."

I sighed and rubbed at my forehead. 'When it's convenient' in Itachi-speak was 'get your ass here now'. Yuugao was the only one who would phrase it so nicely. Did I mention I really liked her?

"Thanks, Yuugao-nee. Did he volunteer you again? Do I have to kick his ass?"

The purple haired woman let out a tinkling laugh, shaking her head. "No, it's fine. He's just on baby duty today or he may have come to get you himself. I was just dropping off some of my own paperwork."

It made sense. Yuugao was in charge of ANBU Division Delta, while Itachi was the ANBU Commander, so they were often relaying messages for each other.

"Now that my job is done, if you'll both excuse me I need to go get my kids from Anko's before she completely corrupts them."

I winced. Between Anko and my Uncle Obito, if she wasn't careful her kids would never be the same. "Yeah, you'd better hurry."

She laughed again before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. Turning back to my sister, I saw that she had plopped down on the ground again and was focusing on the spot I had drawn on her hand. There was chakra pulsing rapidly, so she was well on her way.

"Do you need anything else, Amaya?"

"Hm?" She looked up at me. "Oh... um, no. I'm going to work on this a little more before I go home. Will I see you there?"

I didn't really know. "Maybe, if mom and dad get back today, I might stay over for the night."

Amaya smiled. "It would be nice to have us all at home for a day. It's been a while."

Running through my recent memories, I had to agree. I think the last time we were all at home was for my father's birthday, about... oh, seven months ago? "True. I'll see if I can make it. Anyway, I'd better go see what Itachi wants now, so I'll see you later. Good luck with your project."

"Thanks Hikari-neesan. See you later."

* * *

Thankfully when I arrived at my office, it looked to be a quiet day in the rest of the building. Stopping by my secretary, she only handed me a few forms – likely the ones Yuugao dropped off earlier – and told me that my brother was in fact waiting in my office.

Thanking her, I opened the door to my office and entered, looking around the room. I hadn't changed it much from the way my predecessor left it, other than perhaps a few pictures on the wall and on my desk. There really wasn't much to change.

Well, there was a playpen in the corner, because for some reason or another a lot of baby-monitoring seemed to have happened here. That's what happens when your family controls the office for over twenty years.

"Hokage-sama."

I sighed and counted to ten in my mind. "Aniki, how many times have I told you that you can just use my name when we're like this?"

Itachi chuckled from where he was sitting at the desk, holding and playing with his son who was already nearing toddlerhood. I couldn't believe how quickly he was growing. "Likely over fifty times. Maybe a hundred. I stopped keeping count, but if I don't act in a professional manner, who knows what kind of precedent that will set for the rest of my people under my charge."

I tsk'ed as I walked over to them after closing the office door behind me. "Even in private? I don't think I'll ever understand you."

"That's fine. I've never asked you to."

I lightly chuckled at his blasé attitude before crouching down in front of his son, who clapped excitedly and mumbled baby talk at me before sticking out his pudgy little hands in my direction.

"Aww, and how are you my little Sasuke-kun? Did you come to see your Auntie Hikari?"

He gurgled something before I clearly heard a repeated 'Higgi, Higgi!' and continued holding his hands out. I grabbed the little one and hoisted him up much to his delight, assuming the squeals were any indication. Of course at the same time I was trying to keep myself from melting into a pile of goo and letting out a squeal of my own, hearing the little one attempt to say my name. I was more professional than that. _Especially_ in front of Itachi, as he'd never let me live it down, not to mention that he was in charge of nearly one third of my forces. You know, the ones who were supposed to be under my executive command? I can imagine them snickering from their hiding places now.

Trying to regain my composure and ignore Itachi's knowing look, I deliberately changed the subject. "So the missus had to work today?" I asked.

My older brother nodded. Settling Sasuke on my hip and bouncing him a little, I examined Itachi for a moment. He looked more content than I had ever seen him, and that's really saying something. Growing up he confessed to me when we were both older teens that he always felt so overshadowed by our parents, that they had such monstrous figures to live up to and match.

Of course, both of our parents being who they were spotted this rather easily. They simply told both of us, as I believe they have since told all of my siblings, that we only have to do what we want to do. There were no expectations.

While that eased our minds somewhat, Itachi still wanted to get as far as he could, and I think he even wanted to be Hokage at one point, but that was barred from him thanks mostly to Konoha's charter, which said that an Uchiha could not be Hokage after the whole Madara debacle from long ago.

The council at the time had pushed that through back then because all of the clans were rather upset with the Uchiha, and no one had really worked to reverse it, though the Nidaime Hokage had given my ancestors the Police Force as a 'oops, we're sorry' gesture.

My brother had settled for ANBU Commander before they figured out a little loophole, likely figuring it was the next best thing. He chose to maintain his course. Needless to say he's the youngest one, _ever._

As for me? Well, I was the best pick for Hokage after the Yondaime stepped down for multiple reasons. Even though I was born an Uchiha, I lucked out because my father is an Uzumaki. That little loophole from before? Yeah, thanks to a trick of paperwork and the way my parents marriage contract was worded, for the duration of my tenure as Hokage I'm technically Uzumaki Hikari. There wasn't a single complaint then, and still hasn't been one almost a year later, so I'd venture a guess that I'm not doing too shabby.

In my heart, though, I'm pure Uchiha. Don't get me wrong, I adore my Uzumaki heritage... I just wasn't raised understanding the history and the way of life of the Uzumaki clan, but rather the Uchiha one. Dad told me bits and pieces, but I honestly don't think he even knew much about his old family, since he and his sister were orphans. He claimed that she knew a lot more, as she was the history buff between them, but I never bothered to ask.

I handed Sasuke back to my brother as I moved around my desk. Thankfully it was still clean and neither of my assistants had decided to junk it up. I had to admit that they were rather competent, so it wasn't much of a surprise.

Sitting down, I smiled to myself as I heard Sasuke giggling with his father, I looked at my older brother again. He was, for all intents and purposes, a perfect copy of our mother, just obviously with more masculine features. It was fairly amusing to both my parents then when I ended up being a perfect copy of my father, whisker marks on my cheeks and all while... you guessed it... having more feminine features. Though to be fair, all of my siblings had the whisker marks, minus Itachi. As for the reason why, it's all jibberish about seals that I don't really know that well, but it has something do with the old fuzzbutt, Kyuubi.

Though I hated, hated, hated when he performed that 'sexy technique' of his. Ohhhh! It made me so mad to think of that completely perfect figure. Of course, my mother would be the only woman in the village who would laugh along with my father when he did that. I bet every other mother would be absolutely scandalized. Thankfully he didn't scar my mind with it until I was well into my teen years.

But... wait, wow. I've started digressing all over the place.

"So what did you need to see me about, Aniki?"

Itachi looked at me before his gaze shifted back to his son, who was now trying to eat his own hand, apparently. "Two things. Father sent a clone here earlier today, but since you weren't in it came to me before dispelling. They're returning from Kiri and should be here this evening."

I raised an eyebrow. "Did they say how things went with Yagura?"

"Not too much, other than it was successful. Somehow they talked him into coming to visit Konoha, something about the Sanbi and Kyuubi catching up on old times."

"Do I need to prepare for a diplomatic visit?"

Itachi shook his head, though still watching Sasuke as he bounced the giggling boy on his knee. "No, it will be purely informal from what he says. Besides, you have enough on your plate with the Tsuchikage coming to visit in a few days."

That was true. Though I think Kurotsuchi was just using this string of diplomatic visits to get away from the stuffy old men she was waiting to die off on her advisory council, relics left over from before her grandfather passed on. Her dad didn't want the spot so she was literally handed the Tsuchikage position on a platter.

I thought it was fairly amusing how she was even a year younger than I was. Perhaps she was just coming to me for advice? Like I'm some sort of bastion of kage-advice.

Naaah. We end up drinking the nights away, usually.

"What was the other thing?"

Itachi paused for a moment, as if steeling himself. He'd even stopped bouncing Sasuke, who was looking about randomly as if wondering why the bouncing stopped.

"Jirou applied for ANBU yesterday. I just found out from Rin-nee this morning. I'm guessing he thought she wouldn't come directly to me with it."

I leaned back in my chair, arms crossing over my chest. Well, this was interesting. Rin was in charge of Beta Division, and while we were acquaintances, I wasn't nearly as close with her as I was with Yuugao. Still, Jirou had to know that Itachi would have seen the application eventually, and then me. "Do you know what's up with him and Naomi, by the way? Do you think that had something to do with his application?"

"Perhaps..." Itachi's voice trailed off, obviously thinking about it. "Some ANBU assignments have been known to last for months, perhaps he feels the urge to just get away for a while."

I sighed and rubbed at my forehead. I could already feel a headache coming on, and today was supposed to be my day off, dammit. "I already talked to him this morning about the whole Naomi thing. Before that I've already mentioned to him about becoming a jonin, I mean he's twenty years old now and more than capable of taking up the new rank. He's already been sitting at special jonin for three years. As much as I don't want to say it, I think following Naomi around has messed him up."

Itachi simply nodded, not denying a word. I knew that he didn't particularly care for Naomi either – no one in my family did that I knew of, but Itachi was the most patient with her. Whenever I asked him why he had such patience for her, he would just ruffle my hair in an affectionate manner then state that he had practice from dealing with me.

Of course I'd be mad at him for all of five seconds before realizing he was probably right. I was a bit of a brat until I graduated the Academy. I had even adopted my father's mannerisms when he was young, or so he claimed.

I was such... no, I still am such a daddy's girl. My mother used to joke that she'd have to watch out for when I got older or I'd steal my dad away from her. I was perfectly willing to do just that until I started entering my later teens, but I'm mature enough now to admit that I used to have a serious crush on him, as odd as that may sound.

I take solace in the fact now that I'm likely closer to him than any other women in the world, barring his sister and my mother. I'm comfortable with that.

Bringing my thoughts back to the matter at hand, I said, "Tell him I said no until he becomes jonin and can have a mature conversation with me that consists of more than two words. Until then, ANBU is barred to him. If he needs an assignment to get away for a bit, I'll see if I can find one for him _if_ he can ask me personally for it without being a baby."

Itachi actually winced. "Isn't that a bit harsh?"

I shrugged. Honestly, I was just tired of the whole situation. "Maybe, but give me some credit, Aniki. We're a family of shinobi. So are the Uzumaki. I know that Minato-ojisan used to cater to Naomi a little too much, but I can cut him some slack since she was his first born daughter. Okay, I get that. But I'm not the Yondaime Hokage, and I won't tolerate either of our families not acting like what we were born to be."

I have no idea where that speech came from. But I thought it sounded pretty cool. Itachi must have thought so too, because his face showed surprise for a moment before it morphed into a grin, and he made a show of wiping a fake tear from his eye.

"Look at my Imouto, all grown up. It makes a grown man cry."

I growled at him, tempted to throw a paperweight at his head, but he was still holding Sasuke. As if sensing my desire and subsequent predicament, the little squirt gurgled out a laugh.

Or maybe he was laughing at me too.

Down, Hikari. Don't think about throwing things at babies. You like babies.

A knock at the door caused me to frown. I wasn't supposed to even be here today, and everyone in the village knew I was off, so who the hell...

Sighing again and sending a glare at the amused look Itachi gave me, I shouted for whoever it was to enter.

"Hokage-sama! How are you?"

I groaned internally. That was Uzumaki Masahiro. He was equal parts crazy and scary smart, in a strange sense he was almost like a perfect mix between my father and his own mother, Kushina. Uncle Minato had jokingly washed his hands of Masahiro, suggesting that he was a little too intimidated to try to handle a male version of his wife.

Rumor was that he spent a week on the couch for that joke.

"I'm fine, Masahiro-kun. How are you?"

"Great!" In a creepy way, the beaming smile he was giving me reminded me of my father. Honestly, we all noticed that he looked _exactly_ like my dad, the only difference was that he had red hair like both of his other siblings, and not blond.

It was something of a running joke, though as we got older, Itachi and I both noticed that whenever the subject came up that the four parents all had these knowing looks, like they were all privy to some inside joke that us kids wouldn't understand.

When we asked, they either brushed it off or tried to joke about how it would be interesting to have a non-redhead Uzumaki for the first time in who knows how long. Of course with me that joke fell a little flat, because I was the first blond Uchiha-born in about sixty years, according to the clan record.

"Hey, Hikari-oneesan? Can I pick up one of the graduating squads and become a sensei?"

My mind came to a jarring halt. I must have sat there and stared blinking at him for a few moments. Stopping yet another sigh and internally scowling at another amused look Itachi was sending my way, I simply asked why.

"Well, Etsuko-chan and Isamu-kun are both graduating today, right? I sort of promised them when we were all younger that I'd be their sensei someday."

Huh. I didn't know he'd said that to my youngest twin siblings. Learn something new every day.

"You're just now deciding to bring this to my attention today? _On_ the day they graduate?"

Masahiro winced a little, and his smile faltered. It was only then that I noticed he entered with someone else... none other than one of my assistants, Hyuuga Hinata. Masahiro tended to have that blinding effect, bringing all the attention to himself and making everyone else around him sort of invisible.

That was interesting. Maybe there was some fact to the rumors that the Hyuuga planned on asking about marrying the two of them. Being my assistant, I saw Hinata quite often, and easily noticed the doe-eyes she would send towards my cousin.

Awkwardly, Masahiro used to look at me the same way. Yeah, I was aware of it but he never said anything, and there was no way in hell I was getting with a cousin that was just like my dad. I'd rather have the real thing, not the copy.

I can't believe I just thought that. I need to wash my mind out with bleach.

"Look, Masahiro-kun, first you need to be a full jonin, not just a special jonin. Go take your test when it's available next month, and I'll see about you getting a part time apprenticeship with them if both they and their assigned sensei agree. But the teams were already picked about a month ago."

He looked a little disappointed at first, but as I gradually explained, his face returned to the beaming smile.

"Thanks, Hikari-oneesan! I'll get right on it!"

Without another word, he immediately turned around and ran out the door. I couldn't stop a small, fond smile that worked its way onto my face – unlike the way my younger brother had been acting recently, Masahiro was still bustling with energy and willing to work to prove himself.

I idly nodded my head as Hinata made a small bow and quickly turned and ran as well, following after Masahiro. I admit to liking her, she's a competent worker and while perhaps a little on the shy side... she has an undeniable subtle, steely grace that was perfect for political work.

Itachi cleared his throat, making me focus on him again.

"Well, I think that's all Hokage-sama. If you'll excuse me, I need to get this one home to take a nap."

Looking at Sasuke, I could see that he was leaning back against his father's chest now, eyes drooping a little. If he was anything like his father, he was an early riser, and being as young as he was it made sense that he'd be tired.

"Alright. Will you be coming back home tonight if mom and dad make it today?"

He shrugged as he rose, then turned the question back on me. "Will you?"

Okay, so perhaps I was a little notorious for not being home since becoming the Godaime. But could you blame me? It was a lot of work.

"I promised Amaya that I would, so yes."

He nodded. "I'll be there. If Sasuke's awake and my wife is home, I'll bring them too."

I graced them both with a small smile, though it looked like the little one had already drooped off to sleep. "See you then."

* * *

The rest of the day, thank the gods, was dead quiet. After catching a nap in my office (don't tell anyone!), I stopped by my father's favorite place to eat... Ichiraku Ramen. I wasn't as big a fan of the stuff as he was, but I had to admit, their ramen was to die for.

Not only that, but Ayame was pretty fun to gossip with, and her little boy was quite the charmer as well. Of course, I just seem to have a thing for babies anyway. Not that I'd ever tell anyone that. Sure, I want one or two of my own some day, but not for a good few years yet. I had to find a man that I didn't completely intimidate with my eyes or my position first, and that I wasn't related to.

Sadly, that made the dating market rather small.

I sat up straighter at the ramen stall when a very familiar sensation brushed against the limits of my sensory capabilities. It was still a fair distance off, so I had some time yet. Still, paying my bill and quickly excusing myself, I hopped back to my office and grabbed my robe and hat.

Walking down the main concourse towards the outer south gate, I returned the greetings of everyone that was willing to offer one. Of course everyone was willing to say hello to the Hokage, so believe it or not I had to be careful where I walked in my garb, for fear of losing my voice of all things. The population of Konoha had burgeoned in recent years, what with the addition of nearly a dozen new clans in the last twenty five years, two full walled expansions, plus all the extra needs a village of that size entailed.

The workload of the position of Hokage had evened out a little bit, there was a lot more to do with the military, research, and security departments, but actual governing responsibilities had been shifted over to a new installed governor from the daimyo's court about seven or eight years ago. It was unprecedented at the time, and Konoha was really considered a fully-fledged city now, but the population was becoming a bit too much for our simple clan-based government to run.

Oh, the Clan Council still existed (Itachi had been the Uchiha Head for about three years now after mom retired, he'd often tell me all about the meetings) though they reported to the governor's office now. I was friendly enough with the governor, though we usually minded our own business where our jobs were concerned. Mostly because I couldn't stand stuck up court politicians and would sooner beat them into a bloody paste than deal with their political gimmicks, and the governor couldn't tell a kunai from a butter knife.

As I stood at the outer south gate and watched the sun start to set behind the trees, I began to wonder what the Konoha of my parents had looked like, before the way it became the way it was today. Certainly there were pictures, but not as many as you'd think. Of course some of the more interesting ones were of when my parents were dating, and I always enjoyed looking at the before and after's of the Hokage Monument.

Maybe I'm a little bit biased in that regard, considering my face is on it now.

I straightened up a little as I saw several figures approaching in the distance. To be honest, I was a little nervous about meeting the Mizukage, Yagura, even if he wasn't here on official business... but he was the only Kage that I hadn't met personally yet during the almost-year of me being Hokage.

It wasn't for lack of trying, but they had the Chunin Exams in Kiri about two months after my coronation, and I wasn't realistically prepared to travel. We were having them in Iwa next month, so I would have met him then anyway, if not now.

As they got closer, I could make out several other figures, who were probably the Mizukage's escort. There were three of them, and as they approached it was pitifully easy to recognize who they were.

Hoshigaki Kisame, Momochi Zabuza, and Hozuki Mangetsu. All from clans that did not leave Kiri to come to Konoha, and all three were rather notorious members of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Schichinin Shu.

Itachi was going to be grumbling about the security detail needed for these guys. As they all approached, I first reached a hand out for Yagura, who for someone of his relatively short stature had a surprisingly strong grip.

Seriously, I was of about average height, but he was easily two to three inches shorter than I was. Poor guy. However, with his grayish-white hair, bright violet eyes, and facial tatoo that went from his left eye down along his cheek and ending at the jawline, he had a sort of bad-boy look to him.

Too bad he was about three decades older than I was. Wait, what am I thinking? Bad Hikari!

"It's nice to meet you, Mizukage-sama."

He grinned. Dammit, don't smile like that. "You as well, Hokage-sama. Your parents speak greatly of your talents."

"Do they now?" I smiled, equal parts amused and terrified. Knowing my parents... ugh, I can only imagine what they really told him.

"It's all good, I assure you." He chuckled, then made a show of looking around inside the gate. I hoped that I picked up on his gesture, and waved my hand. One of my ANBU dropped down behind me on a knee.

"Hokage-sama."

Nodding at the ANBU operative, I switched my gaze to Yagura again. "Do you and your escorts need a place to stay, Mizukage-sama, or did you already have plans?"

Yagura shook his head. "Please, we're not here officially, so feel free to call me Yagura. I would appreciate a place to stay, though, since I doubt I'll be here for more than three or four days."

"Very well." I smiled. "Then I insist you call me Hikari."

He nodded before I turned to look at the ANBU, who was still kneeling. "Bird, can you please show Yagura and his escort to the executive diplomatic suites? Let the staff know they'll need to prepare for five days."

As the ANBU affirmed the order and rose to his feet, he gestured for the group to follow. I noticed Yagura was looking at me with a raised eyebrow, but I merely shrugged. "Knowing my dad and my aunt, you may be here longer than you're expecting. Consider yourself warned."

He chuckled and nodded, starting to move and follow the ANBU. "Mikoto mentioned something to that effect." Waving his hand, he got his own escorts to fall in behind him, though they were busy looking around at everything to see in the village and muttering among themselves.

As they started moving away, I felt an arm drape around my shoulders. Pulling the Hokage hat off of my head, I leaned into the shoulder hug, letting the warm presence and familiar chakra wash over me.

"How's my girl doing?"

As I heard my dad's voice again for the first time in a month, I felt a pleasant sensation run up my spine. It was a deep and comforting voice, and was one that I could listen to for hours. I know at times he was amazed as to how I managed to pay attention to his lessons to me when I was younger.

"I'm great, dad. How about you?"

He chuckled, and the vibrations of that carried across my shoulder. "I'm wonderful. It was a long trip, but Yagura is a pretty fun guy, as always."

"I'm glad to hear it. It's nice to finally meet him."

My father hummed his agreement before releasing me, and then I turned to look at my mother. I seriously thought she was one of if not the most beautiful woman in the entire village, buuuut I can admit that may have been yet another bias of mine coming into play. In all seriousness, the woman was in her mid forties but barely looked a day over thirty, and she had no Uzumaki genes to fall back on.

That's not to say the difference wasn't more incredible in my father, as he was a year older than my mom but he didn't look like he had aged a day past twenty-five. It was just like my Aunt Kushina, and something to do with Uzumaki longevity. Uncle Nagato was still pretty spry for a fifty-something, instead appearing to be in his thirties. If he wasn't always so thin he might look even younger.

I seriously hoped that I inherited that longevity too, and that's not just my inner vanity talking.

Anyway, my mother still had this alluring 'I'm hot but I can kill you before you blink' look going on. There was some sort of battle that happened where she lost her eyes before I was born, and I know they don't like to talk about it much but she's always worn an eye patch ever since. In her other eye, I know that she had replaced her original eye with one from my grandfather, because she was losing vision in it. That meant she had the Eternal Mangekyou, but I'd never seen her do anything with it, or even activate it for that matter.

As a consequence of the exchange, however, her Sharingan was always active at its base level, but I thought it merely enhanced her look. After all, I could relate with how it felt to always have your doujutsu active. My Rinnegan was the same way.

I can still remember the day it activated like it was yesterday, mostly because it both saved my life coupled with the awed and fearful looks from my teammates and sensei. It made quite an impression on my then-sixteen year old self.

Luckily between my parents and Uncle Nagato, they helped me cope. The eyes were powerful – of that there was no doubt, but with them also came a lot of responsibility. Considering I could bring back the recently deceased if I was willing to part with some of my own life force in exchange?

Yeah, try to not let it go to your head.

Anyway, after greeting my mom and welcoming them both back, I peeled off my Hokage robe and we started walking back towards our old family home with them. They looked surprised at first that I was walking with them, but they didn't question it so I didn't say anything.

"So, are your brother and sister bouncing off the walls yet after graduating?" my mother asked.

I couldn't help but chuckle. "They were plenty energetic, certainly. I saw your clones in the crowd when I was offering my congratulations, and I think they're pretty excited to be placed on a team under Obito-ojisan. I had to hide the candy or we may not have had a house left."

Both of my parents chuckled. My mother seemed a little sad that we were all growing up, but she had confided in me a couple years ago that she wanted more children. Unfortunately there were some complications during the birth of the twins, and Tsunade-sama felt it wasn't safe for her health to have any more.

I couldn't believe that my mom wanted nine kids... most clan families don't have more than two, the so called 'heir and a spare'. Supposedly when my parents started dating, my dad jokingly asked for nine, and I immediately caught the Kyuubi reference. My mom was willing to go along with it at first because of both the uniqueness factor and she was newly in love, she confirmed, but then over time decided she actually wanted nine children.

She made it over halfway before she was told no more. Of course my dad was ecstatic with just Itachi, and each additional child doubled his happiness. But that's my dad for you.

When we got to the house, I had to hide my grin as we entered into the foyer. I walked in and turned around, waiting for my parents. My mom walked in and turned on the light, only for a loud 'Surprise!' to be announced behind me.

My mom was honestly startled, but immediately started grinning. I don't think my dad was in on the planning of the birthday party for my mom, but he was always good at sensing chakra signatures no matter how much they were suppressed – likely something to do with him being a Sage. I actually didn't find out about it until an hour ago, when Itachi stopped by again to make sure that yes, I really would be home tonight. I thought it was a great idea.

Even if her birthday was a week ago, she wasn't here to celebrate, so everyone thought to throw her a party when she got back. It wasn't often we did parties like this, but for once everyone was able to get the day off, and I mean everyone.

Orihime-san was here with her husband and son, as were all the students and their respective families... Obito, Anko, Yuugao, Rin, Kakashi, Takuya, all of the Uzumaki's plus Nagato with his twelve year old niece. Even Naomi showed up, amazingly, though she looked like she was having a pity party in the corner. Oh well.

As my mother went over to greet and thank everyone for the surprise, I looked at my dad. Actually, I had to do a quick double-take, as I was pretty sure I saw tears in the corners of his eyes.

"Dad?"

"Hm?" He responded, but he was obviously focused on the party and everyone gathered in the room.

"Welcome home." For some reason, the words left my mouth before I could think of why I wanted to say them. Something about them just felt... right.

The smile he graced me with was absolutely blinding, and it was impossible to miss the single tear that made its way out of the corner of his eye to trail down his whisker-marked cheek.

"It's good to be here."

THE END

* * *

21 years later... (approx 25.5 since arrival)

_**Uchiha**_

Naruto - 45(retired, consultant)  
Mikoto - 44(retired)

Itachi(m) - 23 (ANBU Commander) + (wife) = Sasuke(m) 14 mos  
Hikari(f) - 21 (Godaime Hokage)  
Jirou(m) - 20 (Special Jonin)  
Amaya(f) - 16 (Chunin)  
Isamu(m) - 12 (twin) (Genin)  
Etsuko(f) - 12 (twin) (Genin)

**_Uzumaki_**

Minato - 42(retired Yondaime Hokage, consultant)  
Kushina - 41(retired)

Naomi(f) - 20 (Special Jonin)  
Masahiro(m) - 18 (Special Jonin) (original Naruto generation)  
Chika(f) - 10 (Academy)

* * *

A/N: I realize the first person perspective shift for the epilogue might have seemed a little out of place, but as I started writing it... well, it just felt to me like it fit. Check my blog for the full low-down on this and about Rewritten B-Side. I'm going to go back through this and remove all the old authors notes, as I stated last chapter - and try to clean up a few of the still remaining parsing issues that have been nagging the hell out of me.

If you liked this epilogue, feel free to skip the next segment, otherwise read and have a laugh.

Oh, and to save myself having to read the same thing over and over again (because I've already seen it three times) - if you're going to complain about something in regards to Hikari being a Mary Sue... first of all,_** if you haven't written a single thing on this site or link me to something professional I really don't want to read what you have to say about a Mary Sue character**_. That's not to say I don't appreciate criticism, because I do - but I see 'Mary Sue, Mary Sue blah blah blah' and no reasoning behind it. I also don't say it to be mean, but I don't think a person can truly appreciate how difficult it is to write a character with flaws (and not go totally overboard *cough*Harry Potter*cough*) and still make it engaging and a joy to read. It is a very difficult thing to balance.

A Mary Sue character is perfect, has no character flaws, and are typically self-inserts. First of all, I'm a guy. So that's a definite no on the self-insert. Trying to write the way I think a female would think is already difficult enough.

But... damn people, it's one chapter, barely 10k words! Even a typical Mary Sue has at least a couple chapters of development. Why would I introduce **SERIOUS **character flaws in an epilogue? Get real!

I really shouldn't have to defend this. Rather than going predictable (Itachi) which I know the _same people probably would have complained about_, I made an OC - Hikari. She literally was groomed for and inherited the position after twenty years of peacetime. Is that her fault? No. Her father is a chakra powerhouse and she takes more after his genes than that of her mother, hence her inheriting the Rinnegan. It activated in a near-death, panic situation. (See UZUMAKI, NAGATO). She gets easily absorbed in work and rarely ever visits home anymore. She has problems with her family that she doesn't really know how to fix without using her authority as Hokage, and that blows up in her face. She admits that she doesn't even like a member of her family. She admits to being a brat until she graduated the Academy and didn't get her head on straight until she actually became a shinobi. She'd rather get drunk with the Tsuchikage than handle business. She can't run the regular government of the village because she hates noble politicians and would rather kill them than get along with them.

She even hates doing the dishes! Do I really need to point out more flaws? A perfect character would at least not mind doing the dishes.

*snort* For the love of Captain Kangaroo people... if you don't like the chapter that's fine. I've said plenty of times before that I know I'll never please everyone, but seriously? Seriously? Apparently a character can't be _happy _and _liked _and have a fair amount of _skill_ without being a Mary Sue nowadays. No one has even seen what she was capable of, only been told a few things, but nope... still a Mary Sue apparently

She visited her relatives. She showed her sister how to do a Rasengan the same way she was taught. She activated her eyes by accident. She chewed the fat with her brother, played with her nephew a bit, and went to a surprise birthday party for her mother. Total Mary Sue Overload there. I'm literally smashing my head against my desk now.

For everyone else that doesn't really care (the majority of you) I'm sorry. Seeing 'Mary Sue' tossed around when they obviously have no clue as to what Mary Sue truly entails, well... the first time I rolled my eyes, because it was a troll account review (seriously, check the profile). Second time was just a 'really now?'. Third time I knew it was going to continue if I didn't say something.

If someone who has actually written another story, and perhaps even completed it(gasp), and can poke holes in my comments above, feel free. I promise I'll listen and perhaps even be suitably cowed. Just remember - I used Hikari as a plot device to show the overall advance and future of everyone, and the easiest way to do that would be with a Hokage - who was usually in charge of or knew everyone anyway and could link them all together.

*phew* Otherwise... damn it feels good to finally finish a fic!

paradoxjast . blogspot . com


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